WASHINGTON — The Air Force will begin testing the groundwater at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for contamination from dangerous chemicals in firefighting foam that was used at the base, according to the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center.
The Davis-Monthan inspection follows similar testing at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale and the former Williams Air Force Base in Chandler.
Testing for the chemicals is also scheduled early next year at Air National Guard locations at Sky Harbor International Airport and Tucson International Airport.
The Army, Navy and Air National Guard are also testing for the pollutants.
PFAS contamination has been found in the drinking water at 26 Air Force bases, the Civil Engineer Center said Thursday.
In Tucson, home to Davis-Monthan, a city water department spokesman said the agency tests its wells often for PFAS, but that it’s “probably a good idea” the Air Force will be testing water on the base.
The spokesman, Fernando Molina, said the water department shut down three drinking-water supply wells on the northwest side of Tucson in September 2016 after tests found PFAS-levels higher than the EPA’s recommended safe level of 70 parts per trillion. The EPA does not regulate these chemicals, but set the safe level in a 2016 “health advisory,” which is also used by the Pentagon.
In 2012, the EPA added PFAS to its list of unregulated contaminants that may be hazardous to human health.
The Civil Engineer Center reported that 173 of 176 bases have transitioned to the new foam.