11.09.23

Cantwell Calls on Defense Department to Identify Funding Needs to Address PFAS Testing Backlog

In letter, Senators urge DoD to address “growing backlog of contaminated sites across the country”; Dangerous “forever chemicals” found in drinking water near military bases, including in Spokane, Yakima, Tacoma, Whidbey Island, and other areas of Washington state

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined 27 of her Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Lloyd Austin calling on the department to identify the resources needed in order to accelerate testing and remediation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the upcoming fiscal year.

“The Department has historically struggled to execute increased funding levels Congress has been willing to authorize for PFAS remediation, resulting in a growing backlog of contaminated sites across the country that threaten the health and safety of communities, including those who live on or near military installations,” the senators wrote.

“Environmental cleanup efforts at DoD must keep pace with rapidly increasing cleanup obligations, the emerging science behind unsafe PFAS levels, and the federal regulations and approved methods governing PFAS remediations.”

The full text of the letter is available HERE.

PFAS are often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down over time.  These chemicals enter the environment through production or waste streams and are extremely difficult to remove. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFAS chemicals are known have “adverse reproductive, developmental and immunological effects in animals and humans.” They’ve been detected in drinking water across Washington state.

Sen. Cantwell has led efforts in Congress to address water contamination due to PFAS, and she has repeatedly introduced bipartisan legislation to hold federal agencies accountable for addressing PFAS contamination at military bases across the country.

In the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Sen. Cantwell fought to secure $715.9 million to clean up PFAS and establish a PFAS Task Force to address its impacts. In October 2020, in response to a report that found 19 million people in 43 states have been exposed to PFAS-contaminated water, she sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees urging them to include several provisions in the final 2021 NDAA to prevent and address contamination. 

In June 2020, Sen. Cantwell pressed former President Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Dr. Nancy Beck, about her role in delaying and weakening a proposed rule to restrict the use of PFAS chemicals in consumer products. In February 2020, she called on the EPA to provide an updated timeline for when it will implement the commitments made in the agency’s plan to combat PFAS exposure. The prior month, she sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the Navy expressing concern over PFAS health risks to Kitsap County residents.

Sen. Cantwell helped secure an amendment in the 2018 NDAA to authorize $10 million to perform a health impact study on the effects of PFAS groundwater contamination, and announced $70 million in the 2018 NDAA legislation for PFAS cleanup in areas near military installations. Sen. Cantwell has also called for the inclusion of firefighters in studies on the health effects of occupational exposure to PFAS. In 2017, Sen. Cantwell urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to support programs to investigate and clean up chemicals that have contaminated drinking water sources across the nation and secured $62 million in funding for water remediation and environmental restoration in impacted communities.