MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Per and polyfluorinated compounds, or PFAS, are a group of manmade chemicals used for a wide variety of residential, commercial and industrial purposes.
Here on MacDill AFB, you may have heard the terms PFOS or PFOA.
PFAS is the name given to the broad family of chemicals, and PFOS and PFOA belong to that family. While there are thousands of chemicals that fall within the PFAS family, we will focus on PFOS and PFOA.
In 1970, the U.S. Air Force began using Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), to fight fires, and AFFF contains PFOS/ PFOA. AFFF is the most efficient extinguishing method for petroleum fires and is widely used across the firefighting industry, to include all commercial airports.
Unfortunately, PFOS and PFOA do not break down over time, and over the years, we have learned a lot.
In November 2015, the Department of Defense began acquiring AFFF that was more environmentally responsible to eliminate or reduce PFOS and PFOA from approved formulations.
In May 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency updated their Lifetime Health advisory. “To provide Americans, including the most sensitive populations, with a margin of protection from a lifetime of exposure to PFOA and PFOS from drinking water, EPA established the health advisory levels at 70 parts per trillion. This health advisory level offers a margin of protection for all Americans throughout their life from adverse health effects resulting from exposure to PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.”
On April 10, 2024, EPA established legally enforceable levels called Maximum Contaminant Levels for six PFAS chemicals, PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA and mixtures containing two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS. All public water systems have five years to comply with these levels.
Specifically, here on MacDill AFB, currently nine areas on base were identified as having higher than the EPA levels. These locations represent areas where AFFF was stored, used in fire fighter training or to fight fires.
While MacDill AFB has a few locations with elevated numbers, the base’s groundwater is not used for drinking water.
MacDill AFB residents and employees receive their drinking water from the city of Tampa, and is managed by the Florida Governmental Utility Authority located near the end of the peninsula on the base.
Because of the great partnership between Tampa and MacDill, the Air Force has been able to focus on base communities around the country that consume their own ground water. Air Force officials are began their Remedial Investigation to fully define the PFAS contamination around the base in 2024.
Ground water on MacDill AFB moves in a radial motion from north to south, which reduces the likelihood PFOS/PFOA will ever reach any off-base population, but taking no chances, Air Force officials surveyed neighborhoods in and around MacDill AFB. They discovered that every resident near MacDill AFB also uses the very same city drinking water.
While MacDill AFB does have areas with elevated levels of PFAS, the base only uses water that is distributed from the city of Tampa.
The safety and health of our Airmen, their families, and our community partners are our top priority.
If you would like to know more about the drinking water on MacDill AFB, officials provide an annual drinking water report available on www.macdill.af.mil