Health advisories recommend the  amount of contaminants that can be present in drinking water—“health  advisory levels”—at which adverse health effects are not anticipated to  occur over specific exposure durations. Most recently, in May 2016 EPA  issued lifetime health advisories for PFOS and PFOA. DOD Has Initiated Actions to Address Elevated Levels of PFOS and PFOA in Drinking Water and Concerns with Firefighting Foam

		DOD Has Initiated Actions to Identify, Test, Address, and Respond to Orders from Regulators Regarding PFOS and PFOA in Drinking Water

We reported in October 2017 that, following the release of EPA’s lifetime  health advisory for PFOS and PFOA in May 2016, each of the military  departments directed their installations to  identify locations with any known or suspected prior release of PFOS and PFOA and to address any releases that pose a risk to human health—which can include people living outside DOD installations; and test for PFOS and PFOA in their drinking water and address any contamination above EPA’s lifetime health advisory level. We further reported that, as of December 2016, DOD had identified 393  active or closed military installations with any known or suspected  releases of PFOS or PFOA. Since we issued our report, DOD has  updated that number to 401 active or closed installations, according to  August 2017 data provided in a March 2018 report to Congress on the  department’s response to PFOS and PFOA contamination. We stated in our October 2017 report that the military departments had  reported spending approximately $200 million at or near 263 installations  for environmental investigations and response actions, such as installing  treatment systems or supplying bottled water, as of December 2016. DOD’s March 2018 report to Congress provided updated information on  actions taken (such as providing alternative drinking water or installing  treatment systems) to address PFOS and PFOA in drinking water at or  near military installations in the United States, as shown in figure 1 below. Specifically, DOD reported taking action as of August 2017 to address  PFOS and PFOA levels exceeding those recommended in EPA’s health  advisories for drinking water for people (1) on 13 military installations and  (2) outside 22 military installations. We reported in October 2017 that, in addition to actions initiated by DOD,  the department also took action in response to state and federal  regulators. DOD responded to four administrative orders requiring that  DOD address PFOS and PFOA levels that exceeded EPA’s health  advisory levels for drinking water. For example, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, levels of PFOS and  PFOA that exceeded EPA’s lifetime health advisory levels were found at  two wells on the installation in 2016. According to DOD, it may take several years for the department to  determine how much it will cost to clean up PFOS and PFOA  contamination at or near its military installations. DOD Has Taken Steps to Address Health and Environmental Concerns with Its Firefighting Foam

In our October 2017 report, we found that DOD was taking steps to  address health and environmental concerns with its use of firefighting  foam that contains PFAS. These steps included restricting the use of  existing foams that contain PFAS, testing DOD’s current foams to identify  the amount of PFAS they contain, and funding research into the future  development of PFAS-free foam that can meet DOD’s performance and  compatibility requirements (see table 1). In June 2018, DOD reported to Congress that its military specification for  firefighting foam was amended to set a maximum level of PFOS and  PFOA (800 parts per billion). The June 2018 report reiterated that,  according to DOD, no commercially available PFAS-free foam has met  the performance requirements of the military specification, and the report  also stated that DOD-funded research efforts to develop a PFAS-free  foam that can meet performance requirements are still ongoing.
Why GAO Did This Study

According to health experts, exposure to elevated levels of PFOS and PFOA could cause increased cancer risk and other health issues in humans. DOD has used firefighting foam containing PFOS, PFOA, and other PFAS since the 1970s to quickly extinguish fires and ensure they do not reignite. EPA has found elevated levels of PFOS and PFOA in drinking water across the United States, including in drinking water at or near DOD installations.
This statement provides information on actions DOD has taken to address elevated levels of PFOS and PFOA in drinking water at or near military installations and to address concerns with firefighting foam.
This statement is largely based on a GAO report issued in October 2017 ( GAO-18-78 ). To perform the review for that report, GAO reviewed DOD policies and guidance related to PFOS and PFOA and firefighting foam, analyzed DOD data on testing and response activities for PFOS and PFOA, reviewed the four administrative orders issued by EPA and state regulators to DOD on addressing PFOS and PFOA in drinking water, visited seven installations, and interviewed DOD and EPA officials. This statement also includes updated information based on two 2018 DOD reports to Congress—one on PFOS and PFOA response and one on firefighting foam—as well as discussions with DOD officials.

What GAO Found

GAO reported in October 2017 that the Department of Defense (DOD) had initiated actions to address elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in drinking water at or near military installations. PFOS and PFOA are part of a larger class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can be found in firefighting foam used by DOD. In May 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued nonenforceable drinking water health advisories for those two chemicals. Health advisories include recommended levels of contaminants that can be present in drinking water at which adverse health effects are not anticipated to occur over specific exposure durations.
In response to those health advisories, DOD's military departments directed their military installations to (1) identify locations with a known or suspected release of PFOS and PFOA and address any releases that pose a risk to human health, which can include people living outside DOD installations, and (2) test for PFOS and PFOA in installation drinking water and address any contamination above the levels in EPA's health advisories. For example:
As of August 2017, DOD had identified 401 active or closed military installations with known or suspected releases of PFOS or PFOA.
The military departments had reported spending approximately $200 million at or near 263 installations for environmental investigations and responses related to PFOS and PFOA, as of December 2016. According to DOD, it may take several years for the department to determine how much it will cost to clean up PFOS and PFOA contamination at or near its military installations.
DOD reported taking actions (such as providing alternative drinking water and installing treatment systems) as of August 2017 to address PFOS and PFOA levels exceeding those recommended in EPA's health advisories for drinking water for people (1) on 13 military installations in the United States and (2) outside 22 military installations in the United States.
In addition to actions initiated by DOD, GAO reported in October 2017 that the department also had received and responded to four orders from EPA and state regulators that required DOD to address PFOS and PFOA levels that exceeded EPA's health advisory levels for drinking water at or near four installations.
GAO also reported in October 2017 that DOD was taking steps to address health and environmental concerns with its use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS. These steps included restricting the use of existing foams that contain PFAS; testing foams to identify the amount of PFAS they contain; and funding research on developing PFAS-free foam that can meet DOD's performance requirements, which specify how long it should take for foam to extinguish a fire and keep it from reigniting. In a June 2018 report to Congress, DOD stated that no commercially available PFAS-free foam has met DOD's performance requirements and that research to develop such a PFAS-free foam is ongoing.