Former Plattsburgh AFB poisons Lake Champlain with PFAS
By Pat Elder
December 7, 2021
Dr. Robert Ackland is shown holding the sample he collected from the Salmon River flowing out of the former Plattsburgh AFB in upstate, New York. PFAS foam can be seen in the background. Although the base closed in 1995 it continues to contaminate the Lake Champlain Basin with per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances, (PFAS).
We knew Plattsburgh was bad news in 2018 when the DOD reported the groundwater had concentrations of 1,045,000 parts per trillion for PFOS+PFOA, (Perfluoro-octane sulfonic acid and Perfluorooctanoic acid).
The figure nearly topped the national charts. Poisonous groundwater continues to drain off of the former base toward Lake Champlain. There aren’t many places on earth with higher levels of the carcinogens in the ground. The 1,045,000 parts per trillion is 14,928 times above the EPA’s 70 ppt advisory.
And now we know there aren’t many places on earth with higher levels of the toxins in the surface water.
Marguerite Adelman and Bob Ackland of Winooski, working with Military Poisons/Vermont, made the trek across Lake Champlain to test the waters flowing out of the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. They found water containing 7,941.7 ppt of the carcinogenic chemical, PFOS and 8,404.7 ppt of total PFAS. The couple tested water in the Salmon River, close to U.S. Route 9, about 800 feet from Lake Champlain.
This is a great tragedy that few comprehend. Imagine the existence of a massive subterranean sponge under Plattsburgh that forever squeezes out deadly carcinogens that never break down and bioaccumulate in us and the food we eat.
Contaminants travel from the fire training area (Red X at the top left) to the spot where Military Poisons found 7,941 ppt of PFOS in the Salmon River. (Yellow X at the bottom right). This figure shows results for three testing sites along the Salmon River provided by the Air Force, together with the results obtained by Military Poisons. Lake Champlain is shown at the bottom right. All results are shown in ug/l, or micrograms per liter, (parts per billion.)
The Air Force reported levels of PFOS at 124 parts per trillion (ppt), 50 ppt, and 54 ppt in the river moving downstream from a location near the fire training area. The water sample containing 54 ppt of PFOS was collected approximately 300 feet upstream of the sample collected by Military Poisons/Vermont that contained a concentration of 7,941 ppt of PFOS.
It’s tough to understand what this means without comparing these concentrations to standards in more responsible jurisdictions. For instance, Minnesota limits PFOS in some lakes to .05 parts per trillion. Lake Champlain is 158,820 times over that limit. Minnesota explains that the water levels that are protective of public health for the killer chemical must be miniscule because they say PFOS is known to bioaccumulate 7,000 times the concentrations in surface waters.
In Minnesota, fish tissue above 370 ppt in some waterbodies is deemed to be a threat to public health. Lake Champlain could have fish containing hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions of parts per trillion of PFOS. Neither New York nor Vermont have tested the water of Lake Champlain or the fish for these chemicals. If they have, the results have not been made public.
A 674-page Air Force report prepared by Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. in 2018 on the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS at the former Plattsburgh AFB provides insight into how the Air Force is misleading the public on the dangers of these chemicals.
One of the project’s core objectives was to “identify potential human health pathways and receptors and if necessary, mitigate impacts to drinking water greater than the health advisory (70 ppt) that are attributable to the Air Force.” The report is all about drinking water. Their premise is simple. The groundwater may be contaminated with these chemicals but just about everyone in the area gets their water from the Town of Plattsburgh and a lot of folks who have wells don’t use them for drinking water.
You get the feeling from flipping through the partially redacted pages that the Air Force isn’t being completely candid. Consider this redaction under “exposure pathways.”
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The DOD hides behind the EPA’s lack of regulatory action. Consider this line from the report, “As there are no regulatory criteria for PFOS, PFOA, and PFBS in surface water, results were evaluated based on presence or absence, and not compared to a specific project screening level. Surface water body usage was evaluated to determine drinking water sources.”
There’s no mention of the impact of PFOS on the aquatic life in the Salmon River or Lake Champlain, while the science is clear this is the most likely human pathway to ingestion. Instead, the report contains an “ecological profile” that reads like a tourism brochure for the fishing industry. The Salmon River is referred to as “a Brook Trout Water and a Top Fishing Water for Brown Trout. Lake Champlain is a Top Fishing Water for Lake Trout, Landlocked Salmon, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, and Northern Pike.”
New York’s Adirondack Region Fish Advisories for Lake Champlain do not include PFAS as a contaminant. Several species, however, have “Do not eat” advisories for mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination. High concentrations of mercury and 9 different varieties of PCB’s are also detected at the former base.
In a discussion of the Fire Training Area, the Air Force states, “The Health Advisory project screening level (70 ppt) was exceeded for PFOS+PFOA in groundwater. PFOS/PFOA were detected in surface water. The surface water bodies are not a drinking water supply.” It is true that surface waters on the grounds of the old installation are not used for drinking water, however, the chemicals in the water flow into Lake Champlain at much higher concentrations than the Air Force has reported, while Lake Champlain is a drinking water source for 200,000 people.
The report also says properties downgradient of the fire training area “are located in an area within the Town of Plattsburgh served by municipal water supply,” however, another section of the report identifies 2,550 parcels within a four-mile radius estimated to be without access to municipal water.
We don’t have a very good idea how badly contaminated the private wells are in the region and the Air Force is not forthcoming in any sort of meaningful, transparent way. Consider this redacted segment on the Air Force investigation of potentially impacted private wells:
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The Air Force would have us believe groundwater contamination is not a big problem. After all, people don’t drink their well water because it has a bad taste.
Back in 2015 the Air Force reported concentrations of 1,510 ppt for PFOS in the Salmon River close to the fire training area. They collected water samples from most of the wells in the residential area south-southeast of the runway. Just one drinking water well exceeded 70 ppt for PFOS, while the majority of the wells did not detect PFOS, PFOA and PFBS, the three compounds they examined.
Overall, the Air Force has collected water samples from 53 properties served by private water wells. PFOS was detected above 70 ppt at four residences. Three of those sets of results are shown in the graphic below. In response to detection of PFOS above 70 ppt, the Air Force provided three residences bottled water and coordinated installation of a whole-home water treatment system at each property. Bottled water continues to meet the drinking water needs of the fourth resident where installation of a treatment system has been deferred due to space limitations. That’s pretty much the entire story, the way the DOD tells it.
PFOS + PFOA levels were detected at 442 ppt, 206 ppt, and 510 ppt at private residences north of the base.
We don’t know what the redacted area says but we think we’re entitled to know because we share this planet.
The groundwater flows generally south-southeast from the fire training area and several other firefighting foam discharge areas on base. Groundwaters often seep into surface water and we see that in Plattsburgh with PFAS in the Salmon River where the Vermont team found frightening levels. The three private well test results made public by the Air Force are north of the flow of most groundwater on the installation.
Military Poisons sampled water from the Saranac River just north of the runway, about 2,000 feet north of the three wells shown above. The river water contained 6 ppt of PFOS and no PFOA. The bulk of contaminants flow south. The Air Force published its scant results from private wells north of the installation.
This redacted paragraph fails to add clarity:
Figure 4.3-1 is the Water Use Survey and Well Inventory Map but it doesn’t show test results.
The Town of Plattsburgh’s Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2020 does not address PFAS, although Plattsburgh is in compliance with legally mandated federal standards for a host of contaminants. The EPA does not mandate regular testing for PFAS in municipal water systems.
PFAS-laced foams were used in weekly fire training activities between 1970 and 1989. The fire training area is located approximately 500 ft. west of the runway and 500 ft. from the western installation boundary. Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) was used at a total of 11 areas throughout the base. Plattsburgh is the epicenter of PFOS contamination in the Lake Champlain Basin. It’s truly frightening. USA Today reported that the chemicals can travel in water for 22 miles, while the fish can take it much further.
This is a public health crisis that the DOD, the state of New York, the state of Vermont, and the EPA are failing to address. We cannot expect the EPA or the DOD to act anytime soon, but New York and Vermont ought to be testing the waters and fish of the lake and establishing fish advisories for PFOS as a first step in safeguarding public health. (photo of Plattsburgh AFB in the early 1960’s - Military.com)