'Forever chemicals' leaking from Pensacola bases threaten communities | Guestview

The U.S. military's centennial practice of negligently using, storing, and disposing of toxic substances in and around its bases has been the source of long-lasting environmental repercussions. Without even knowing, countless individuals who lived and served on or near contaminated army installations were exposed to severe health hazards known to trigger potentially fatal diseases.

Besides the health burdens that former service members and military families experience due to extensive exposure, the army's imprudent handling of toxic hazards also contributes to a pervasive form of discrimination disproportionately affecting underserved minority communities such as those in Pensacola.

The Army's long legacy of toxic contamination issues

As the most notorious example of extensive unaddressed contamination in the U.S. military, North Carolina's Camp Lejeune housed nearly 1 million troops and their families from 1953 to 1987. During this time, they were unwittingly exposed to volatile organic compounds resulting from decaying industrial chemicals, solvents, degreases, oil, and even radioactive waste.

Studies of the base's premises brought to light over 60 different contaminants in concentrations that exceeded safety limits by 240 – 3,400 times, including infamous carcinogens like benzene, vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and poly/perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Commonly known as "forever chemicals" due to their highly resilient synthetic molecular makeup, which prevents natural breakdown, PFAS are present in many commercial products, from fast-food containers to water-proof clothing and non-stick cookware. In particular, the compounds PFOA and PFOS were commonly used in the formulation of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), a type of firefighting solution used by the military since the early 70s. However, the same physical properties that garnered their wide use likewise pose significant health concerns.

Since they don't decay and are highly mobile in the environment, PFAS can seep through the soil and contaminate aquifers used for drinking water. Chronic exposure to these compounds has been clinically linked to cancer (testicular, kidneys), impaired liver function, increased cholesterol, lower vaccine response in children, decreased birth weight, and pregnancy-related issues like pre-eclampsia.

The army's decades-long use of AFFF is the primary source of PFAS contamination on more than 700 bases across the country, with more recent studies finding that close to 3,500 closed and active military installations are likely affected.

PFAS and environmental injustice in Pensacola

As a result of ethnically-motivated redlining policies that classified minority neighborhoods as substandard throughout the 1900s, land in such areas was severely undervalued and became a cost-efficient option for establishing industrial facilities, army bases, landfills, traffic ways, ports, and other pollution hotspots. The higher health burdens residents in vulnerable ethnic communities incur due to a legacy of institutional prejudice and neglect is better known today as "environmental racism."

On top of existing toxic and climate change-related hazards, frontline communities in the Sunshine State also have to contend with PFAS leaching into drinking water sources from military bases where AFFF was regularly utilized. To put it into perspective, the EPA set non-binding health advisory guidelines for PFOA and PFOS of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) back in 2016.

Florida is currently home to more than 20 bases where PFAS contamination has been confirmed, with the most severe instances registered at Patrick AFB (4,338,000 ppt), NAS Jacksonville (1,397,120 ppt), NAS Cecil Field (988,600), Tyndall AFB (902,460), and Eglin AFB (552,200 ppt).

Notably, Pensacola holds a significant concentration of affected military locations, with PFAS being registered at NAS Pensacola (126,300 ppt), Saufley Field (79,000 ppt), Corry Station (3,030 ppt), and Bronson Field (1,888 ppt). The Navy's testing found that 13 of 50 private drinking water wells in a one-mile radius of Saufley Field were contaminated with PFAS above the 70 ppt advisory level, with similar suspicions surrounding communities near Corry Station.

For the residents of mainly-Black communities like Rolling Hills, Olive Heights, and Wedgewood, who have been dealing with toxins leaching from unlined landfills and barrow pits for decades, PFAS originating from military sources represent a distinct environmental risk due to their persistence in the environment. Studies conducted in the Pensacola Bay area uncovered significant PFAS concentrations in surface waters and sediments, potentially bioaccumulating in sea life and providing an additional contamination vector via fish and seafood consumption.

What it takes to tackle environmental injustice

Race and ethnicity remain the primary indicators of higher toxic exposure risks in the US, with minority groups inhaling higher amounts of airborne hazards than they're responsible for and being more likely to live in the vicinity of areas that store chemical hazards. Additionally, climate change-related issues such as more intense hurricanes and rising sea levels contribute to many Floridians' justified concerns of toxic runoff from contaminated bases and superfunds ending up in their areas due to flooding.

Ensuring environmental justice for vulnerable frontline communities requires extensive institutional involvement to establish lasting reforms and keep those liable for pollution accountable. Actions such as the 2022 lawsuit against a dozen PFAS manufacturers initiated by Florida's AG are even more significant for at-risk minority groups that often lack the resources to face polluters directly.

Thankfully, several legal developments over the past few years provide encouraging prospects. The Department of Defense aims to eliminate toxic AFFF from military use by 2024 and finance vital PFAS remediation efforts under the National Defense Authorization Act. Meanwhile, federal projects like Justice40 and legislation like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act aim to direct crucial funding towards exposed minority communities to address enduring environmental hazards.

Although Florida's House Bill 1475 would require the state to adopt PFAS cleanup targets by 2025, this may soon be overridden by the EPA's efforts to establish enforceable federal standards later this year. As part of this ongoing process, the EPA updated its advisories for PFOA and PFOS in June 2022, drastically slashing acceptable levels to only 0.004 and 0.02 ppt. For reference, 1 ppt is roughly equal to a grain of salt in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Jonathan Sharp serves as CFO at Environmental Litigation Group PC, a law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama, specializing in toxic exposure cases and assisting individuals harmed by exposure to hazardous chemicals.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 'Forever chemicals' leaking from Pensacola bases threaten communities