FAIRBANKS — The South Davis Park groundwater is contaminated with perfluorinated compounds from the nearby fire training center, the Fairbanks city and borough governments announced in a joint news release Thursday.
Groundwater contamination from old firefighting foam has previously been known to affect a few dozen of private wells in the area.
The family of contaminant chemicals, often referred to as PFCs, also have polluted water wells around Eielson Air Force Base and Fairbanks International Airport, also because of firefighting foams used at those locations.
At the South Davis Park, the contaminated water wells are used only for irrigation, not for drinking.
The South Davis Park is directly across the Mitchell Expressway from the fire training center.
The letter tells the borough the two wells cannot be used for irrigation until the water meets clean water standards.
It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday why the Department of Environmental Conservation didn’t contact the borough about the contaminated wells in 2016.
Thursday’s news release states that the city government will be providing clean water to irrigate the turf fields “in the short term.” The projected cost to the city of irrigating the sports fields with clean water wasn’t immediately known because the city hasn’t yet decided how to supply the fields with clean water, said city spokeswoman Teal Soden.
Options for getting clean water to PFC contaminated areas discussed elsewhere in the borough have included trucking in clean water, connecting areas to city water service and providing carbon filters.
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