Public Comment to National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Pat Elder, Director, Military Poisons -  Statement to the Committee on Guidance on PFAS Testing and Health Outcomes, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Meeting 6 Day 2

August 12, 2021

Thank you for listening to me.

In 2019 the Patuxent River Naval Air Station revealed PFAS groundwater contamination within 2,000 feet of a hundred homes in a predominately African American community, many served with shallow wells. The navy report said there was no possibility of contamination of these wells because all of the toxins drained into the bay. I contacted the Maryland Department of Health to see if they thought it might be a good idea to test the wells but they said they deferred to the Navy in these instances.

It seemed the state was covering for the Navy.

I tested the water on my beach for PFAS in February of 2020. I reported extremely high levels of 14 types of PFAS. The beach is on a cove 1,800 feet across the creek from the Webster Field Annex of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

A local paper quoted the Maryland state official who oversees federal site cleanups.  He said the contamination in the creek, “if it exists”, could have another source, like the landfill or a firehouse. The closest landfill to the base is 11 miles away while the closet firehouse is 5 miles away.

I figured the state’s top guy was covering for the Navy.

In September 2020, the state released a report on PFAS levels in oysters near my beach saying they didn’t contain PFAS and they were OK to eat. The tests performed had a detection limit at 1 part per billion.  Concentrations may actually exceed several thousands of parts per trillion  in an oyster while the state gave them a clean bill of health.

More evidence that the state was covering for the Navy.

I  tested rockfish (23,100 ppt) crab (6,650), and oyster (2,070) from my beach and nearby.  I realized one seafood dinner could deliver 10 thousand nanograms of PFAS while fish near military burn pits have contained up to 10 million ppt of mostly PFOS and they’re OK to eat.

I emailed the local health department and asked them two yes or no questions. Is it OK for my 30 year-old daughter who may become pregnant to eat the seafood from our dock with these results; and is it OK for the neighborhood kids to play in the foam? They didn’t say no. They didn’t say yes, either. They said they were waiting for the EPA.

More evidence, I thought.

The state contends that the deep aquifer near the Naval Research Lab’s Chesapeake Bay Detachment, adjacent to the town of Chesapeake Beach is fully confining so it’s unlikely the 171,000 ppt in the surficial aquifer can penetrate that far down, yet several deep wells nearby have been detected with PFAS.

More evidence of the state covering for the Navy.

On Monday the town said it tested local oysters and found low levels of contamination. The chain of custody in the Eurofins report revealed that the oyster they collected was from a relatively pristine location in the bay 23 miles away.

More evidence.

Maryland, my Maryland! What a shame!

Thank you.