Many sites within the Department of Energy’s weapons complex have at least some level of exposure to certain human-made chemicals drawing increasing attention from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a report released Tuesday.
The DOE rolled out its “Initial Assessment of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances PFAS” at 53 properties, including sites run by the Office of Environmental Management and the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dubbed PFAS an “emerging contaminant” in 2016, and set a drinking water health advisory level of 70 nanograms per liter. The first widespread use of PFAS can be traced to uranium separation during the Manhattan Project.
Some of these fluorinated chemicals later were used in aqueous film forming foam for firefighting as well as multiple household goods such as non-stick cooking pans.
“A growing body of scientific evidence shows that exposure at certain levels to specific PFAS can adversely impact human health and other living things,” according to the report. Measurable levels of these 9,000 chemicals have been detected in soil, drinking water, surface water and groundwater in many areas, the report said.
The new 97-page report represents an early DOE effort to get a handle on how much PFAS exposure might be found in water supplies around its federal properties. In addition to some prior sampling, sites also reviewed records to document prior use, storage or release of such chemicals.
Surveys were provided to each site about drinking water sources, fire department facilities, and any inquiries received on the chemicals in question from federal, state, local and tribal stakeholders.
“Our results show that 13 sites have conducted onsite sampling or monitoring of environmental media beyond drinking water, with each site reporting some detections,” according to the DOE report.
“Landfills, fire departments, water treatment plants, Cold War-era liquid waste discharges, and fire training facilities are the top five facilities/events identified by DOE sites,” according to the report.
Some sites such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the Moab uranium mill tailings recovery project in Utah and the state-owned West Valley Demonstration Project in New York “do not track or maintain records of past and present inventories of PFAS,” according to the report.
“Historical uses of PFAS are uncertain because the chemicals were highly classified, as were locations of burial grounds” around the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, according to the report. The Environmental Management field office at Oak Ridge “tracks and maintains past and present inventories of PFAS but does not have more than 100 pounds of any one PFAS.”
At the Hanford Site in Washington state, no fire-suppression foam containing the PFAS have been used since 2018 and fire extinguishers containing the chemical were removed 10 to 15 years ago, the report says.
The Savannah River Site in South Carolina recently identified 500 gallons of PFAS-laden fire-suppression foam in storage. Workers at the site mixed it with concrete powder to immobilize the chemicals. “The hardened [foam] is currently stored on-site in covered and lined roll-off containers,” according to the report.
The Savannah River Tritium Enterprise at the complex does not track PFAS inventories, according to the report.
At the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico there are three fire stations onsite, two of them are still active, with firefighting foam containing PFAS, according to the report. The document adds the National Nuclear Security Administration is looking at PFAS-free alternatives for the complex, which is no stranger to wildfires.
Of the 53 DOE sites surveyed, only Los Alamos reported being contacted directly by a tribal nation about PFAS. “The most frequently requested information involved PFAS sampling at sites followed by records searches,” according to the report.
The report will be used to guide next steps in addressing PFAS at DOE sites, and to support continued coordination with other federal agencies.
The DOE said in a statement its objectives include “researching current and past uses and known or potential releases of PFAS into the environment; proactively preventing PFAS from entering the environment at levels that can adversely impact human health” and cleaning up PFAS contamination where needed.
