{"id":870,"date":"2021-01-19T18:51:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T18:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/groundwater-war\/?p=870"},"modified":"2021-01-19T19:02:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T19:02:12","slug":"pfas-in-nms-waters-plus-nj-sues-the-military-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/groundwater-war\/2021\/01\/19\/pfas-in-nms-waters-plus-nj-sues-the-military-too\/","title":{"rendered":"PFAS in NM\u2019s waters, plus NJ sues the military, too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"NMPBS\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Frontline\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Stories\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

Stories<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Timeline\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

Timeline<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"PFAS\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

PFAS Map<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"PFAS\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

PFAS FAQ<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n

\n\t\tPFAS in NM’s waters, plus NJ sues the military, too \n\t<\/h1>\n\t

Laura Paskus<\/p>\n\n\t\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0New Jersey officials have sued the\u00a0military over its contamination of local waters with PFAS<\/a>. According to a story by\u00a0Michael Sol Warren:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The complaint focuses on\u00a0Joint\u00a0Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington and Ocean counties. More than 45,000 people, from service members and their families to civilian contractors, live and work on and around the Joint Base. The total population of\u00a0towns\u00a0surrounding the base is about 600,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the absence of federal regulations, New Jersey is among the states to have set a statewide drinking water standard for PFAS-13 parts per trillion for PFOS and 14 parts per trillion for PFOA. The federal “health\u00a0advisory” for those two types of PFAS is 70 parts per trillion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, according to the\u00a0NJ.com\u00a0story:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Joint Base has been identified for years as a hot spot of PFAS contamination. Previous testing of\u00a0groundwater at the installation<\/a>\u00a0found PFAS levels up to 264,000 parts per trillion, making it one of the most contaminated sites in the nation, according to the advocacy organization Environmental Working Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit announcement on Thursday, the state said three private drinking water wells around the Joint Base have been found with combined PFOS and PFOA levels between 152 parts per trillion and 1,688 parts per trillion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also listed in the complaint are Naval Weapons State Earle in Monmouth County, and the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Trenton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, when I interviewed\u00a0Rebecca Roose, director of the Water Protection Division at the New Mexico Environment Department,\u00a0I asked her if she had any advice for New Jersey officials, given the fact that New Mexico has been in litigation with the military over contamination from Cannon and Holloman Air Force bases.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Don’t take anything for granted in terms\u00a0of how to bring the\u00a0Department of\u00a0Defense\u00a0around to take the action that they need to take,” she said. “Here in New Mexico, we continue to experience\u00a0resistance\u00a0nearly every step of the way for\u00a0accountability, cleanup, and even just sharing information with the public…”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\t