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\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\nLaura Paskus<\/p>\n
September 22, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n\t \u201cI\u2019m still dumping milk, my cows are still dying, and the Air Force hasn\u2019t done nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s been more than two years<\/a>\u00a0since the U.S. Air Force notified state officials that toxic chemicals from\u00a0their\u00a0firefighting foams\u00a0had seeped into the groundwater\u00a0below Cannon Air Force Base\u2014and into the well water of nearby homes and Art Schaap\u2019s Clovis dairy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, they\u2019re still polluting the groundwater,\u201d says Schaap, whose farm overlooks\u00a0Cannon\u2019s airfield. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable. We\u00a0can\u2019t believe it. We cannot believe it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When Schaap learned the military had polluted his well water with PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, he had to stop selling milk from his Clovis dairy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Even though the Air Force stopped using the firefighting foams with high levels of PFAS, those toxic compounds\u00a0persist\u00a0in the environment.\u00a0PFAS don\u2019t biodegrade, but in fact, do the opposite: they bioaccumulate, moving on\u00a0up the food chain. They\u2019ve been linked to cancer and many other health problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, Schaap estimates he\u00a0still\u00a0spends somewhere between $7,600 and $11,400 a day feeding the 3,800 cows he can\u2019t milk or sell because they drank contaminated water. He says his dairies in Portales keep his family afloat. But that\u2019s not going to last much longer, and he worries that by the end of this year, he\u2019ll file for bankruptcy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, we\u2019re just standing on our own,\u201d says Schaap. \u201cThey\u2019ve been polluting this water for 20 years, but we found out two years ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\t In 2018, the Air Force notified New Mexico officials that tests at Cannon\u2014and Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo\u2014detected\u00a0perfluorooctanesulfonic\u00a0acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from firefighting foams that the military started using in the 1970s.\u00a0PFOA and PFOS are just two of the thousands of\u00a0compounds in the PFAS family.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, New Mexico has tried to hold the Air Force responsible for the pollution. But despite cleanup orders, lawsuits,\u00a0widespread acknowledgement of the dangers of PFAS,\u00a0and progress\u00a0at other contaminated bases across the nation,\u00a0the\u00a0military has yet to even map the pollution\u00a0at Cannon and Holloman.\u00a0And while the state and the Air Force\u00a0recently settled over\u00a0a disputed wastewater discharge permit at Cannon,\u00a0that\u00a0agreement doesn\u2019t move cleanup forward, New Mexico Environment Department\u00a0(NMED)\u00a0Secretary James Kenney told NMPBS.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always appreciative when people want to settle,\u201d Kenney says. \u201cBecause at the end of the day, it\u2019s about compliance, not penalties.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But the Air Force has yet to demonstrate a similar willingness\u00a0to come to the table\u00a0over cleanup, he says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to the delineation and remediation of the plume, if they wanted to settle with us, they could reach out. And that has not happened,\u201d Kenney says. \u201cThat is a good indication that they are not respecting the community in which they do business, and the community in and around Clovis who rely on well water and public water supplies fed by the aquifer where PFAS has been detected.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\t Although the\u00a0U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u00a0set a lifetime health advisory for PFOS and PFOA, it\u00a0has not\u00a0set enforceable standards for\u00a0them, or the\u00a0roughly 7,000 other\u00a0compounds in the\u00a0PFAS\u00a0family.\u00a0Standards that would allow states like New Mexico to have\u00a0more control over\u00a0pollution from\u00a0places\u00a0like Cannon and Holloman.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s not because the toxins aren\u2019t dangerous. Decades\u2019 worth of studies tie PFAS to reproductive and developmental problems, liver and kidney disease, and immune system problems. Exposure is also linked to high cholesterol, low infant birth weights, thyroid hormone disruption, and cancer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the EPA\u2019s\u00a0health advisory,\u00a0you shouldn\u2019t ingest more than 70 parts per trillion of PFOA and PFOS\u00a0over the course of your\u00a0entire life.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s a tiny number compared with\u00a0what the military found\u00a0in New Mexico\u2019s waters.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the waters below Cannon, PFAS levels were more than 370 times that lifetime limit.\u00a0The toxins also made their way into about ten percent of the wells\u2014now closed\u2014that supply Clovis\u2019s drinking water<\/a>. And at Holloman, PFAS levels were more than 27,000 times the lifetime limit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After learning about the groundwater contamination at\u00a0Cannon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Holloman<\/a>, New Mexico issued notices of violation against the Air Force in 2018. According to the state, the military had violated the state\u2019s Water Quality Act\u2014and at Cannon, the notice required the Air Force come up with a plan to protect dairies and evaluate the possibility of installing filtration or treatment systems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, the Air Force sued New Mexico, challenging the state\u2019s authority.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Then, in March 2019, New Mexico\u00a0filed a\u00a0separate\u00a0lawsuit,\u00a0asking a federal District Court judge to order the military to act on and fund cleanup at Cannon and Holloman.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea was to get immediate relief to the people whose groundwater had been affected,\u201d says Cholla Khoury, director of consumer and environmental protection at the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n That suit was meant as something of an emergency action\u2014to get the Air Force moving on cleanup, and quickly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know there is significant contamination in the groundwater at those two locations and we\u2019re claiming substantial and imminent endangerment under [the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act] and New Mexico state laws,\u201d Khoury says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since 2019, she explains, the case has been moved to multi-district litigation and a court in South Carolina which is overseeing all cases regarding PFAS and the military\u2019s use of the polluting firefighting foams. Currently, that includes 750 separate cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n NMED\u2019s\u00a0Kenney says the state tried to extricate itself from the multidistrict litigation and pursue its case against the Air Force without being\u00a0slowed down and\u00a0tied to\u00a0hundreds of other cases.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But United States District Judge Mark Gergel agreed with the Air Force, the U.S. government, the Defense Coordination Committee, and the Plaintiffs\u2019 Executive Committee and denied that request.\u00a0\u00a0According to Gergel\u2019s order<\/a>, \u201cresolution of the issues raised [by New Mexico] is premature and it could prejudice other cases involving the same issues.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kenney says that among the plaintiffs who opposed New Mexico\u2019s request were attorneys for Art Schaap, who sued the U.S. Department of the Defense and the Air Force for failing to notify dairies of the contamination and failing to supply replacement water.\u00a0He also sued the manufacturers of the toxic chemicals<\/a>, and like the state\u2019s lawsuit against the military, the suit was moved to the South Carolina district court.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur ability to hold\u00a0DOD\u00a0accountable more quickly was effectively blocked by Mr. Schaap\u2019s counsel,\u201d Kenney says. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t know why that is.\u00a0<\/p>\n NMPBS left messages with attorneys with both the firms\u00a0representing\u00a0Schaap, Napoli Shkolnik PLLC and Portales-based Doerr &\u00a0Knusdon.\u00a0We\u2019ll update our coverage with that information once we hear back from them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, local officials have no idea when the pollution will be tackled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of us have this feeling, well,\u00a0we just feel like we\u2019re like the little bitty guy facing the big giant of the Air Force,\u201d says Robert Sandoval, a Curry County commissioner. \u201cI’ve been frustrated for a long time now, and I don\u2019t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know it\u2019s there. But it\u2019s too far away for me to see it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A self-described optimist,\u00a0Sandoval\u00a0does believe the Air Force has finally decided it has a responsibility to fix the problem.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut it seems like government works very, very slowly,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I have no idea what they\u2019re going to do or when they\u2019re going to start doing it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\tRelated: Water Quality Control Commission<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t On\u00a0September 8, the Water Quality Control Commission<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(WQCC)\u00a0voted unanimously to approve\u00a0a\u00a0proposed settlement agreement\u00a0between the state of New Mexico and the Air Force over\u00a0a\u00a0wastewater discharge permit at Cannon\u00a0Air Force Base.<\/p>\n In a settlement dated in early July<\/strong><\/a>, the two parties\u00a0agreed:\u00a0Cannon would submit a new permit application and pay an administrative fee of $250,947.60.<\/p>\n During that meeting, in response to a question from WQCC Chair Jennifer Pruett, New Mexico Environment Department\u00a0(NMED)\u00a0attorney Chris Atencio said it was in the state\u2019s interest to\u00a0accept the settlement\u2014and\u00a0accept\u00a0the difference between the\u00a0proposed $1.7 million\u00a0fine and the\u00a0much smaller\u00a0administrative fee.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t go into all those reasons and exact thinking in all that,\u201d Atencio said, \u201cexcept that it was appropriate given the nature of the non-compliance, the efforts of the Air Force, and the interest in moving in getting an effective discharge permit in place for Cannon Air Force Base.\u201d<\/p>\n And\u00a0Major Mark Coon, counsel for the Air Force, noted that \u201cit\u2019s effectively illegal\u201d for the U.S. government to \u201cpay something that\u2019s characterized as a fine or a penalty,\u201d whereas it can pay an administrative fee.<\/p>\n Moments after the vote, counsel for the commission\u2014who had lost his internet connection during the virtual meeting\u2014pointed out an error\u00a0within the agreement.\u00a0Some of the language within the settlement agreement, Robert Sanchez pointed out, doesn\u2019t\u00a0comply with state statute.<\/p>\n After hearing additional comments from\u00a0Atencio and Coon,\u00a0commission chair Jennifer Pruett asked Sanchez if the vote should be re-opened. After he replied \u201cyes,\u201d Pruett solicited a motion from commissioners, and received a motion\u2014but no second\u2014to reopen the discussion.<\/p>\n Pruett waited for additional comment or action from commissioners, and after receiving none, said the original vote stood, and the commission moved on to the next agenda item.<\/p>\n In response to an email from NMPBS about that error in the agreement, Pruett noted that some of the language required by the commission within a final order was missing, and \u201cis being corrected in a revised stipulated final order.\u201d<\/p>\n Both parties still disagree over the permit, which was initially issued in 2014 and expired in 2019. But they are moving forward with a new permit, the application for which the department is currently reviewing.<\/p>\n NMED communications director Maddy Hayden\u00a0noted in\u00a0an email\u00a0to NMPBS\u00a0that Cannon has submitted information about PFAS discharges, as requested, and the department is considering that data as it develops the draft\u00a0permit.<\/p>\n \u201cWith\u00a0these in hand, the Bureau wants to focus its resources on ensuring that CAFB\u2019s wastewater treatment plant is not contributing to the ongoing contamination in and around CAFB rather than a protracted fight that diverts resources from where they are needed most,\u201d wrote Hayden.<\/p>\n\t When the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission met this month to vote on the settlement\u00a0agreement between\u00a0the Air Force and the state of New Mexico<\/a> John Kern with the group Clean Water Partnership opposed that agreement.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Kern believes the settlement allows Cannon to continue\u00a0releasing\u00a0wastewater onto leach fields and a lagoon, into arroyos, and onto the base\u2019s golf course\u2014and continue polluting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To be clear, the agreement doesn\u2019t affect the dueling lawsuits. Rather, it centers around a\u00a0wastewater\u00a0discharge permit.\u00a0In early 2020<\/a>, the New Mexico Environment Department dinged the Air Force for not monitoring the groundwater at Cannon for PFAS contamination\u2014which the state said was required under the military\u2019s wastewater discharge permit. In its January 2020 order, the state demanded compliance with state law and\u00a0fined the military\u00a0nearly $1.7 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a settlement dated in early July, the two parties came to an agreement: Cannon would submit a new permit application and pay an administrative fee of $250,947.60.\u00a0And at its September meeting, the state\u2019s Water Quality Control Commission voted unanimously to accept the settlement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kern says that two years ago the commission added three PFAS chemicals, including PFOA and PFOS, to the state\u2019s list of toxic pollutants. \u201cThey passed a regulation about PFAS in 2018 but have now exempted [Cannon] to continue operating according to a 2014 permit?\u201d he says. \u201cAll is forgiven, for a quarter of a million dollars?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Kern\u2019s group is also frustrated\u00a0at\u00a0how base officials have battened down against any communication with the community.\u00a0\u201cCWP tried to schedule a town hall with the base commander this summer, but he refused, citing the ongoing litigation,\u201d Kern says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cannon has yet to even\u00a0map out\u00a0where the contamination has spread.\u00a0Instead, New Mexico is spending a million dollars to fund that work<\/a>, which is expected to begin in 2021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Nationwide, the\u00a0military is investigating PFAS contamination at more than 700 bases and installations\u201434 more were added to the list this month<\/a>, including New Mexico\u2019s Fort Wingate. And those\u00a0site studies and cleanup efforts are all in various stages.\u00a0In Texas, for example, Kern points out that near the now-closed Reese Air Force Base, the military has tested hundreds of wells and provided hundreds of homes with filtration systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kenney agrees that cleanup at New Mexico\u2019s bases\u00a0lags\u00a0those in other states.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u00a0speculates that the military considers various factors when prioritizing cleanup, including whether the PFAS levels in drinking water exceed the\u00a0lifetime\u00a0health advisory, whether state and federal officials are pursuing a remedy, and if NGOs and the community are urging action. And, he added: \u201cI hope the DOD is not treating states differently for political purposes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The public information officer for Cannon Air Force Base did not respond to emailed questions from NMPBS\u00a0or a request for an interview with Coon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Art Schaap is still waiting for the military to supply clean water to his dairy.\u00a0As a dairy farmer, Schaap says, he follows state and federal laws. If he broke those laws, regulators would shut him down. The same is true for any other industry in the state, he says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut for some reason, [state regulators] gave a pass to Cannon,\u201d he says, referring to\u00a0the settlement.\u00a0\u201cMy community has done nothing, the City of Clovis has done nothing, the county has done nothing. Everybody\u2019s like a deer in the headlights with Cannon Air Force Base.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The settlement, he says doesn\u2019t stop the pollution or protect people like him from the Air Force\u2019s continued contamination of the groundwater around Clovis. He\u2019s also disappointed that city and county officials\u00a0don’t stand up\u00a0to the Air Force.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been communities in other states that had PFAS, and they pushed back, and the Air Force there started cleaning up the water,\u201d says Schaap. \u201cWhen I read about that, I thought, \u2018If our community would put pressure on Cannon, would they do that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\t If you\u2019ve been affected by PFAS contamination in your community, call our tip line at (505) 433-7242. To read more coverage of PFAS in New Mexico visit\u00a0\u201cGroundwater War: New Mexico\u2019s Toxic Threat,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which includes\u00a0a\u00a0timeline<\/a>\u00a0of events and studies on PFAS.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMore Stories\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stories Timeline PFAS Map PFAS FAQ New Mexicans await military response two years after Cannon revealed PFAS contamination Laura Paskus September 22, 2020 \u201cI\u2019m still dumping milk, my cows are still dying, and the Air Force hasn\u2019t done nothing.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s been more than two years\u00a0since the U.S. Air Force notified state officials that toxic chemicals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"tpl-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n