More south Fairbanks homes affected by PFC contamination
originally posted on May 22, 2016
FAIRBANKS — New national health standards will expand the number of south Fairbanks industrial area residents who have water with unhealthy concentrations of perflorinated compounds, a toxic chemical previously used in firefighting foams.
Last week officials at Eielson Air Force Base announced that because of new, stricter health standards additional homes in the Moose Creek along the Richardson Highway will receive bottled water.
The new national health standards also affect a second PFC contamination site which borders the Regional Fire Training Center at 1710 30th Avenue in Fairbanks.
Under the new health standards, six homes near the firefighter training area have unhealthy PFC concentrations, said Jackson Fox, the planning and permitting manager for the city of Fairbanks’ Engineering Department.
Under the previous standards, two homes had unhealthy concentrations. The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced the new standards on Thursday.
The city plans to offer south Fairbanks industrial area residents with contaminated drinking water wells a connection to the city’s water system.
Piping the six residents into the city grid is expected to cost about $108,000 and would ideally take place this summer, Fox said.
The Moose Creek PFC contamination area is so far larger than the Fairbanks one.
In the Moose Creek area, about 160 homes have contaminated well water under the new perflorinated compound standards.