The Defense Department will investigate U.S. sites for PFAS contamination

The Defense¹ Department will investigate U.S. sites for PFAS contamination

Transcript²

The Pentagon is testing hundreds of military sites around the country for contamination from chemicals known by the acronym³ PFAS, which have been linked to health problems such as cancer.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some other news now - the Department of Defense is testing hundreds of military sites across this country for contamination from chemicals. They're known by the acronym PFAS - PFAS. They're used in many products, and they're called forever chemicals because they do not break down easily. Some are linked with health problems, including cancer. Here's Jay Price of WUNC.

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JAY PRICE, BYLINE⁴: This is Bogue Field, little more than a collection of concrete airstrips on the mainland behind one of North Carolina's barrier islands. Normally, Marine⁵ pilots use it for practice. Today, though, the straining motor belongs to a drilling rig rather than a fighter jet. Military firefighters also use this field for practice, and the military thinks they may have released fire-suppressing foam⁶ here, which contained one kind of PFAS. That's why a team of contract technicians and geologists⁷ is drilling 23 test wells at key spots around the runways.

KRISTI FRANCISCO: And then the well will sit approximately two weeks, and they'll come back and collect a sample.

PRICE: Kristi Francisco oversees⁸ the effort. She's with the Naval⁹ Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk.

FRANCISCO: And then once we get that data, then we'll evaluate whether we need to come back and collect additional samples or whether we need to move the investigation¹⁰ on.

PRICE: The Navy will use the soil and water samples from the holes to figure out whether there needs to be a cleanup and if so, how to do it. It has to. The military has been evaluating PFAS pollution at nearly 700 sites, and Congress just mandated¹¹ it finish the task by the end of next year. It also has to report back with a timetable for the cleanup. The military has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on its PFAS efforts, and the new defense spending bill earmarks another $517 million. Richard Kidd is the deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment and energy resilience.

RICHARD KIDD: My congressional testimony¹² has been this problem will take years to define and decades to clean up.

PRICE: Of the hundreds of sites on the evaluation¹³ list, 11 are in North Carolina. Those include the major bases, National Guard installations, an ammunition¹⁴ shipping¹⁵ depot¹⁶ and a former missile factory. And those installations include more than 50 individual places where firefighting foam was believed to have been used or stored. The cleanup, Kidd says, will be a long process.

KIDD: So is there a better, faster way to do this? The Department of Defense is spending a lot of money to try to find that out.

PRICE: That cleanup phase hasn't really started, though in some other states, the pollution was so obvious that the Pentagon has already installed systems to pump up groundwater, clean it and put it back in the ground. Critics of the Defense Department say it should be doing more faster. Colin O'Neil is with the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization.

COLIN O'NEIL: Department of Defense employees testified last year that at the current pace, it could take 30 years or longer to clean up PFAS at military installations across the country, which, for the defense communities and military families who live on or near these installations, is just simply unacceptable.

PRICE: But the military says it has to follow the existing science and regulations, which with PFAS are still works in progress. In 2016, the EPA set stricter guidelines for PFAS in drinking water, and the Pentagon began testing at hundreds of its installations and adjacent areas. By 2018, it had found potentially dangerous levels of the chemical in at least 126 locations. Again, defense official Richard Kidd.

KIDD: And then if we found PFAS in those water systems, we immediately put on a filter. And so we are taking the PFAS out of those systems.

PRICE: Kidd says there's a crucial point to understand for those living on or near installations like Bogue Field.

KIDD: To the Department of Defense's knowledge, no one in America, on or off installations, is drinking water that has PFAS in it above EPA's established levels that was caused by the Department of Defense.

PRICE: The Pentagon's battle with PFAS is only part of the Biden administration's efforts to investigate and clean up the chemicals, reduce their use and learn more about their health effects. And the civilian¹⁷ side of the problem is potentially much larger than the military's, which is far from small. At Bogue Field, Kristi Francisco, the Navy project manager, says the crew will be drilling and taking soil samples for a couple of weeks before moving on.

FRANCISCO: It's a lot of work, yeah.

PRICE: With decades more ahead.

For NPR News, I'm Jay Price at Cape¹⁸ Carteret, North Carolina.

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1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

7 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

8 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

12 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

13 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

14 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

15 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

16 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

17 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

18 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。