The U.S. Army has contaminated groundwater and surface water at U.S. Army Garrison - Ansbach, Germany

PFAS used in firefighting exercises have poisoned the waters.
It’s not breaking news, but few know about it.

By Pat Elder
September12, 2021

PFAS concentrations in groundwater in Ansbach are 500 times over Bavarian standards. Groundwater Monitoring Site 70 contains a concentration of 35,000 parts per trillion, (ppt).  The American military is poisoning Germany.

The United States military has contaminated groundwater and surface water with PFAS in German communities surrounding bases throughout the country. The U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, Katterbach Kaserne, Germany provides the clearest indication we have of the specific levels of contamination in the German environment. Unlike other U.S. Army and Air Force installations in Germany, a partially redacted U.S. Army report detailing the contamination was published in April, 2020 by Ansbach city officials who obtained a copy from the Army.  

Since the early 1970’s American military facilities throughout the continent have recklessly used and discarded massive amounts of firefighting foam used during routine fire-training exercises. The foams contain carcinogenic PFAS (per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances) that were allowed to leach into the groundwater and pour into sewer systems that drain into nearby creeks, contaminating the environment, perhaps forever.

The American forces dug one-meter-deep craters that were 30 to 60 meters in diameter, and they filled them with jet fuel. They ignited the fuel before extinguishing the flames with the PFAS-laden foams.

Stars and Stripes, the quasi-independent American newspaper, reported on September 19, 2019, “When PFAS contamination first emerged as an issue in Ansbach in 2016, Army officials said drinking water supplies on post were not affected. German officials say that's no longer the case and have accused the Army of withholding some details of a recent investigation.” The paper reported a drinking water well in Ansbach contained 3,270 parts per trillion of PFAS.

It’s likely two generations of Germans have been drinking water tainted with the poisons, although municipal drinking water sources are slowly managing to rid most of the chemicals from drinking water.

However, people and farm animals that drink from wells close to U.S. bases may be at risk. Eggs, meat, and produce may be contaminated. The main threat to human health has always been from food, especially fish caught from PFAS-contaminated waters. Rivers and fish throughout Germany are poisoned by the U.S. military, and so are the deer and other wildlife.

U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, Katterbach Kaserne is located in the village of Katterbach, about 3 miles east-northeast of Ansbach (Bavaria); about 250 miles south-southwest of Berlin.

History of the Airbase

The Luftwaffe airfield was initially named Fliegerhorst Ansbach and was completed in 1938 during Hitler’s militarization of Germany prior to World War II. The airfield was seized by the U.S. Third Army in April, 1945 and has been used by the US military since that time.

The contamination is located on the western boundary of the base while groundwater flows off-base, to the north-northwest. American forces typically placed burn pits along the boundaries of facilities to allow for the groundwater and air pollution to be carried away from the bases.  

Surface water from the fire pit (red X)  drains into Katterbach Creek, shown in blue.

Surface waters near the base, including the Katterbach, the Untereichenbach and the Obereichenbach fishponds are at risk. The Katterbach flows into the Eichenbach which empties into the Frankische rezat River.

The Frankische Rezat River in Windsbach, 14 km east of Ansbach.
Is the fish OK to eat? How about the fish in Ansbach?

In 2014, the City of Ansbach asked the Army to test the soil at the former firefighting training areas. Five years later, in December, 2019. the Army completed its initial remedial investigation for two former firefighting training pits.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will contract for the design of a hydraulic containment remediation project, and then contract construction. It’s a lot more complicated than that, like all the stuff that came out of Pandora’s box. The arteries of earth are sickened. Pump and Treat methods and containment remediation projects are frail band aids at best.

Grownups in the room must test the waters and the sewers and the fish for these carcinogens as a first step in protecting human health. The US must not be allowed to continue to use these chemicals on German soil.  

The U.S. military has stopped land-based use of aqueous film-forming foam  (AFFF) in training, testing and maintenance since 2016. AFFF foams contain PFAS.  Legacy foams containing two kinds of PFAS -  PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) and PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) are no longer in use, although tremendous damage has been done. PFOS and PFOA have been substituted with other varieties of carcinogenic PFAS and may be discharged on bases during emergencies and accidents. PFAS is also used on military bases as a chemical fume suppressant in chrome plating. PFAS is used as a cleaner, a degreaser, and in wire coatings in aviation electronics. After use, it has to go somewhere. It can’t be sent into the rivers. It can’t be emptied into the sanitary sewer system. It can’t be buried in landfills, and it can’t be incinerated. This is a big problem for Germany. It’s a big problem for the world.

 Officials in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark have taken steps to restrict all PFAS compounds under Europe’s chemical regulations framework, with plans to phase out almost all uses of the substances by 2030.

The burn pit (red X)  is located about 200 meters from the Ansbach Middle School.

This burn pit at Katterbach Kaserne in Bavaria has groundwater containing PFAS at concentrations 500 times higher than what’s considered safe in Germany.

Ansbach parliamentarian Boris-Andre Meyer of Die Linke, a German party, said the Army has been slow to take action. “The poison has contaminated Ansbach’s waters and soil and we are confronted with a huge remediation problem.”

“Families in Ansbach drank PFAS-contaminated water for a long time,” he said.