Air Force admits firefighting foam that was spilled on base contaminated water and soil; people south of Colorado Springs left in lurch

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Air Force admits firefighting foam that was spilled on base contaminated water and soil; people south of Colorado Springs left in lurch

July 29th, 2017

Awake Goy

Water providers and residents south of Colorado Springs chafed as the U.S. Air Force on Tuesday unveiled a nine-month study verifying that firefighting foam used at Peterson Air Force Base contaminated water and soil with toxic perfluorinated chemicals at levels more than 1,000 times higher than a national health advisory limit.

Air Force officials pledged to conduct further investigations that, sometime after 2019, may include analysis of human health risks. This initial investigation focused on contamination at the base. The spread of contaminants to where tens of thousands of people live remains a mystery, the officials said.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment leaders have said the state was waiting on the Air Force for information on how far and how fast PFCs have moved. El Paso County and CDPHE officials at a public meeting here Tuesday night said their agencies lack money to track the PFCs moving in groundwater at unknown concentrations south toward Pueblo.

“It makes me really angry that it has taken them this long to get some numbers — and more than a little concerned,” said Fountain City Council member Greg Lauer, who has been fielding calls from anxious residents for a year. “We and our ratepayers are going to be dealing for a very long time with this problem we did not create.”

Security Water and Sanitation District manager Roy Heald said his agency spent $3.6 million on pipelines and purchases of alternative clean water supplies after municipal wells were contaminated but has yet to receive a promised $800,000 in reimbursements from the Air Force.