Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the NAS Whiting Field
PFAS drinking water well investigation.
This presentation is designed to be a summary of
several topics related to the investigation,
including information about the Navy's PFAS sampling policy,
previous drinking water sampling,
current on-base PFAS investigation,
current off-base drinking water well investigation,
PFAS and potential health effects,
and, lastly, the upcoming sampling process and timeline.
Information will be provided about how to
sign up to have your well tested.
Thank you for understanding as we use the online forum as an
alternative to an in-person open house meeting
due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Navy is sampling drinking water wells near certain Navy
installations nationwide for per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances, abbreviated as PFAS.
Due to historical use of firefighting foam
containing PFAS at NAS Whiting Field,
we are testing our community members' drinking water wells
to determine if these compounds are present.
In 2016, the EPA established a lifetime health advisory level
of 70 parts per trillion for two PFAS
in drinking water, specifically PFOA and PFOS.
Once released to the environment, the compounds
can move into the groundwater, where
people can be exposed through their drinking water.
The Navy established a proactive policy to ensure
that communities near our installations are not exposed
to drinking water with PFOA and/or PFOS above the EPA's
lifetime health advisory from a known or potential
Navy release of PFAS-containing materials.
The Navy has historically used firefighting foam containing
PFOA and PFOS at many of our installations.
The foam may have been released to the environment through
activities such as firefighting training
and life-saving emergency responses.
The Navy no longer uses firefighting foam
for training activities.
Basewide investigations are being conducted at Navy and
Marine Corps installations nationwide to identify and
address PFAS releases.
When a known or suspected PFAS release is identified, the
Navy typically conducts sampling of drinking water
wells located within 1 mile in the direction the groundwater
flows away from the release area.
A Former Crash Crew Fire Training Area on NAS Whiting Field
was identified as a PFAS release area in 2016,
based on a review of available environmental records.
Initial off-base drinking water sampling was conducted in 2017.
The Former Crash Crew Fire Training Area is shown in pink
on the map, and the 2017 off-base sampling area
is highlighted with yellow hatching.
The Navy offered to sample all drinking water wells
within the designated sampling area in 2017.
10 drinking water wells were sampled in 2017.
PFOA and PFOS were detected in 5 of the 10 locations,
with 1 sample containing combined PFOA and PFOS
above the EPA lifetime health advisory.
The detections ranged from 5.79 to 263.86 parts per trillion
for combined PFOA and PFOS.
Bottled water is being provided for the property with the
detection above the EPA lifetime health advisory,
and the Navy is implementing a long-term solution.
The drinking water on NAS Whiting Field is supplied
by three on-base wells that pull groundwater from the
deeper aquifer, as seen in the diagram.
The NAS Whiting Field drinking water was sampled for PFAS
in 2016, and PFOA and PFOS were not detected.
The on-base drinking water was resampled in late 2020,
and combined PFOA and PFOS were detected above the
EPA lifetime health advisory at 714 parts per trillion.
On-base residents and employees were notified,
and bottled water is being provided until
a long-term solution is implemented.
A link is provided on the poster for more information.
The Navy's environmental cleanup program follows EPA's
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and
Liability Act regulations.
The environmental cleanup program at NAS Whiting Field
works closely with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
and the EPA, and public input is welcome.
From beginning to end, this process
can take a long time to complete.
The full on-base PFAS investigation
is in its early stages.
The first step is to identify potential sources of PFAS,
followed by investigation to determine where
PFAS are present in the environment.
As part of the initial investigation at NAS Whiting Field,
23 areas on-base have been identified as
confirmed or potential PFAS releases.
They are a combination of areas where firefighting foam was
used or released in support of firefighting training,
emergency response, or equipment maintenance.
A complete list of the areas, including information used to
identify confirmed or potential PFAS releases,
are included in a Preliminary Assessment Report, the draft
of which is currently being reviewed by regulatory partners.
The Navy will start soil and groundwater sampling
at these areas this year.
Due to the identification of additional potential and
confirmed PFAS releases, the Navy is preparing to conduct
additional drinking water well sampling in a designated area
adjacent to NAS Whiting Field in early 2021.
The sampling area is shaded purple on the map.
The previous 2017 sampling area, shown with yellow hatching,
is not part of this current investigation.
The new sampling area was established based on the
location of the additional confirmed and potential PFAS
releases on-base and groundwater flow direction,
as shown with light-blue and dark-blue arrows on the map.
The sampling area includes all properties
located within a mile in the direction
of groundwater flow from the PFAS releases.
The Navy is asking to sample drinking water wells
only in this area.
If your water is provided by the City of Milton or
Point Baker Water Systems, the Navy is not asking to
sample your property at this time.
Please contact your water provider if you have questions
about your drinking water.
The next two slides provide information on
PFAS and the EPA's lifetime health advisory
for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.
PFAS are a large group of chemicals
that do not occur naturally.
They are all manufactured.
Many products have been made using PFAS
since the 1940s, and PFAS last a very
long time once they are in the environment.
The EPA considers the lifetime health advisory level of
70 parts per trillion combined total of PFOA and PFOS
protective for a lifetime of exposure
for even the most sensitive populations.
Most people in the United States and other countries
have probably been exposed to PFAS
and have PFAS in their blood.
The most common exposure occurs through drinking water and
eating food that contain PFAS.
PFAS in a mother's body can move from
her blood into her unborn child and from
her breastmilk into her breastfed baby.
Very little exposure across the skin to PFAS occurs during
swimming, bathing, or showering.
There is no medical treatment that will
remove PFAS from the body, but levels will decrease
naturally over time if exposure stops.
For example, by not drinking water that contains PFAS.
Scientists are still learning about how
exposure to PFAS might affect people's health.
As seen on the slide, exposure to certain
PFAS may lead to certain health effects.
The next three slides provide a summary of the drinking water
sampling process, sampling and results timeline,
and information for those in the
designated sampling area with drinking water wells.
Drinking water well sampling is voluntary.
If you are in the designated sampling area, please use the
link or call the number to set up an appointment.
The Navy and their contractors will take
necessary precautions to minimize exposure to COVID-19.
The left side of the poster
provides a summary of the sampling process.
The right side provides a summary of the COVID-19
precautions to be used during the drinking water sampling.
This sampling is conducted at no cost to the property owner.
The Navy will receive preliminary results from
the lab typically within a month of sampling.
A Navy representative will call property owners
to provide preliminary results, usually within
24 hours after receiving them.
If preliminary results for PFOA and/or PFOS are above the EPA
lifetime health advisory of 70 parts per trillion,
the Navy will provide bottled water for drinking
and cooking to residents at the property.
Property owners will receive the official
results data package from the Navy
within approximately 3 months from sampling.
Drinking water well sampling is voluntary.
The Navy needs the property owner's permission to sample.
There must be an adult 18 years or older present for sampling.
Sampling takes less than an hour
and will be conducted outside your home.
The Navy will begin scheduling drinking water well sampling
appointments on March 3rd, with sampling appointments
available March 10th through 17th, 2021,
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.