https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/13/pfas-pollution-us-military-bases-forever-chemicals
Plumes of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” flowing from at least 245 US military bases are contaminating or threatening to pollute drinking water for nearby communities, and hundreds more are likely at risk across America, a new Department of Defense report finds.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-18-mn-96-story.html
The United States’ far-flung network of overseas military bases, operating far outside the reach of American environmental regulation, left a quagmire of chemical contamination all around the globe.
For years, the brook that runs through Rohl just beyond the runways of Bitburg Air Base was a dumping ground for unwanted jet fuel, chemical solvents and firefighting chemicals.
US military installations polluted the drinking water of the Pacific island of Guam, poured tons of toxic chemicals into Subic Bay in the Philippines, leaked carcinogens into the water source of a German spa, spewed tons of sulfurous coal smoke into the skies of Central Europe and pumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into the oceans.
As the world’s most extensive industrial enterprise, the US military generates huge quantities of hazardous wastes--used oils and solvents, paint sludges, plating residues, heavy metals, asbestos, cyanide, PCBs, battery acid, pesticides, herbicides and virtually every other toxic substance known to man.
The Pentagon also creates such special classes of lethal byproducts as high-level radioactive wastes from atomic weapons plants, high explosive powder, outdated chemical weapons, rocket fuels and ordnance practice ranges full of unexploded bullets, bombs and artillery shells.
While there is no systematic effort under way to determine how badly polluted America’s overseas bases are, the US Army--without even looking formally--identified 300 contaminated sites in West Germany alone. Of the total, 30 are on bases slated for closure and 25 are currently deemed serious enough to require expensive long-term remedies.
The US Air Force acknowledged that it polluted soil, streams or ground water at every one of its airfields in Europe.
The US Navy says it does not know the extent of contamination at its many overseas bases because it has neither money nor a legal requirement to study the problem. The US Navy’s senior environmental officer conceded that the service is aware of a number of polluted sites worldwide but refused to identify them because, he said, it would create “problems with host nations.”
In theory, the American armed services abroad follow US or host nation environmental law, whichever is stricter. In practice, they follow neither because US regulation does not reach overseas while military installations are generally exempted from host nation laws under basing agreements, said Rep. Richard Ray (D-Ga.), chairman of a House Armed Services Committee panel that monitors military environmental practices.
In response to requests by The Times under the US Freedom of Information Act for data on contamination at specific foreign bases, the US Air Force said it could not meet the law’s legal deadline and would provide some information at an unspecified future date. The US Navy did not respond at all.