Firefighting foam “unintentionally released” in an aircraft hangar at Travis Air Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2013. Firefighting foam contains PFAS or “forever chemicals” that have gotten into the environment and groundwater. (Photo by Ken Wright/U.S. Air Force)
The U.S. Department of Defense quietly changed its timeline for cleaning up toxic forever chemicals contaminating groundwater at two military bases in Oregon and Washington, delaying the process by six years without public announcement.
The Air National Guard base in Portland and the Fairchild Air Force base near Spokane are among nearly 140 military sites nationwide with delayed investigations and remediation for a group of chemicals known as PFAS. The delays come as congressional Republicans are proposing cutting by nearly $200 million the defense agency’s budget for environmental cleanup, including PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and rolling back a 2024 ban on the agency’s use of firefighting foam containing PFAS…