WASHINGTON — A federal watchdog has found most military bases have caught up on reporting about concerns of water contamination, but plenty of work remains to have more bases come into compliance and end future fears of water pollution.
The report found 77 military installations informed the Defense Department of violations, while a remaining 16 bases had yet to reveal their compliance standings.
“One of the things that stood out most is generally the installations are pretty close to being in compliance,” said Brian Lepore, GAO’s director of defense capabilities and management.
However, concerns remain that polluted water in and around military bases could continue to be an issue, according to the report released Wednesday.
The contaminants, perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, are found in firefighting foam used at Air Force and Navy installations.
The military is working now to find alternate firefighting foam without PFOS and PFOA, but haven’t found one yet, Lepore said.
The report set out five recommendations for the Defense Department to improve its reporting and follow up on those findings when it comes to compliance with health regulations.
Executing these recommendations, and better reporting requirements, should go a long way in addressing the concerns of polluted water at military bases, the report suggested.