EPA Research Partner Support Story: Contaminated site due to PFAS
Partner: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC)
Challenge: Contaminated site due to PFAS issues at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
Resource: Technical support for site contamination in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force
Project Period: 2016 – Present
With increased concern about the risk of per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, it is important to identify the source(s) of the contamination and manage/remediate the risk. To date, PFAS contamination has been observed at landfills, primary and secondary PFAS-related manufacturing sites, wastewater treatment plants, and emergency response and training sites where aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) were used for firefighting. The U.S. Department of Defense has identified hundreds of sites with potential AFFF contamination.
“EPA’s collaboration with the ADEC and the Air Force on PFAS sampling and analytical methods is key to ensuring valid, defensible data are collected on these emerging contaminants that are being found in soil, groundwater and drinking water in Alaska and elsewhere across the country. Extremely low concentrations, in the parts per trillion levels, in drinking water may pose unacceptable health risks, thus, rigorous sampling and analytical methods are critical in ensuring people have clean drinking water.” – ADEC former Commissioner Larry Hartig
EPA ORD, in coordination with Region 10 (Pacific Northwest) and Region 5, is providing technical support for PFAS site characterization at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage. ORD previously provided a review of an Air Force work plan to collect groundwater and soil samples at JBER for PFAS analysis. ORD scientists observed the collection of groundwater samples by an Air Force contractor, visited locations where samples have been collected, and collected wastewater and creek samples. Region 5 scientists analyzed splits of some samples to evaluate the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) analytical PFAS methods (ASTM 7968-14 and ASTM 7979-15, a preliminary version of SW-846 Method 8327). This sampling effort provided an opportunity to apply the ASTM methods to additional environmental matrices. In addition to the common PFAS analytes, samples were analyzed for PFAS precursors and transformation products. The analytical methods produced accurate and precise data for most analytes. Many groundwater locations contained PFOA and PFOS as well as other PFAS. The resulting data from EPA can be used to decide further site characterization priorities.
More information can be found on the Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson Superfund site profiles.