U.S. Air Force

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.

Last year, two wells near the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson were closed after the EPA found high levels of perfluorinated chemicals in the water.

The chemical was widely used in military fire-fighting foam, and the Department of Defense has a list of 126 areas in or around military bases  where the dangerous chemical made its way into ground and drinking water.

Now Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik wants DOD to take responsibility for treating the PFOS and PFOA found in the wells.

“The Air Force says they are quote ‘studying it’ and I want the results be made public. I want it now,” he said. “So I want them to own the problem, I want them to fix it and I want them to fund it.”

Kozachik said this isn’t the first time Tucson residents have been exposed to dangerous chemicals from the Air Force and their contractors.

In 2012 the city installed an expensive water treatment plant to address 1,4-dioxane contamination and in the 1990s Tucson residents won major lawsuits after proving a myriad of health effects were linked to chemical contamination, including exposure to trichloroethylene.

EPA

Red dots indicate the site of two wells were high levels of dangerous chemicals were found in the water. The two wells are by the runway of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.