Pappas Pushes to Ensure Air Force Addresses PFAS Contamination Under New Regulations at Pease

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) called on the U.S. Air Force to treat per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination at locations on and surrounding the former Pease Air Force Base to levels below the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under its April 2024 PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation. 

In the letter, Pappas commended EPA’s new PFAS regulation for drinking water, writing, “EPA’s announcement is a critical step forward in addressing PFAS contamination in drinking water and represents the most stringent standards for PFAS contamination.”

Underlining the Air Force’s responsibility to meet the new standards at Pease, he concluded, “Since it is the Air Force’s legal responsibility to treat PFAS contamination at Pease, I write to seek confirmation that the Air Force will treat drinking water at and around Pease to levels below the latest standards issued by EPA. Specifically, the Air Force must commit to treating both municipal sources and private wells surrounding Pease to levels below the latest PFAS MCLs.”

Read the letter here.

In April, following Pappas’s advocacy, EPA finalized PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation which issues strict Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for PFAS chemicals and announced $1 billion in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to help address PFAS contamination in both municipal systems and private wells, with a focus on small and rural communities.

Pappas has been a leader in addressing PFAS and fighting for better standards, increased investment, and a stronger national focus on the issue of PFAS contamination. He helped secure at least $9 billion in the bipartisan infrastructure law to help communities address emerging contaminants like PFAS. Pappas introduced the No Taxation on PFAS Remediation Act, which would remove federal taxes on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination reimbursements. He has also introduced the Clean Water Standards for PFAS Act, bipartisan legislation which has twice passed the House and would require EPA to set strong limits on PFAS discharges from industrial polluters in order to turn off the spigot of PFAS pollution. Heeding Pappas’s call, the Biden Administration announced it was establishing enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels for certain PFAS chemicals in drinking water.