first published week of: 11/14/2016
The ongoing issue with firefighting foam in water supplies continues, as Air Force officials announced last month that a base near Colorado Springs sent water laced with the toxic residue into the city’s sewer system as frequently as three times a year.
In an email that was sent to The Gazette, officials wrote that Peterson Air Force Base stopped sending firefighting foam wastewater into sewers in 2015. The foam is believed to have contaminated the Widefield Aquifer, making well water for customers in neighboring Security, Widefield, and Fountain unsafe to drink.
The Air Force “contends the release of contaminated wastewater was in accordance with the city’s utilities guidelines,” which Colorado Springs Utilities disputes.
“I’m not aware that we have ever authorized them to discharge that firefighting foam into the system,” utility spokesman Steve Berry, told The Gazette.
Just last month, the air force announced that it spilled 150,000 gallons of water laced with perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) into the sewage system in Colorado and that it failed to warn a local wastewater utility in time to prepare for the chemical influx. continued…