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Government — PFAS — Jennifer McClellan — Federal Government — Eastern Henrico

McClellan, Kiggans seek to protect servicemembers from PFAS exposure

,   and  Citizen Staff Reports
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PFAS were found in the White Oak Swamp Creek in Eastern Henrico in late 2021.

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U.S. Representatives Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, and Jennifer Kiggans, R-2nd (both of Virginia) are leading a bipartisan effort to include provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 that would better protect servicemembers from exposure to toxic PFAS chemicals.

The pair sent a letter to House and Senate Armed Services leadership Nov. 19 urging them to include Sec. 319 in the final version of the NDAA. The provision, derived from McClellan and Kiggan's H.R. 6095, the Department of Defense PFAS Discharge Prevention Act, would require the Department of Defense to regularly monitor for PFAS at military installations and implement best management practices to limit PFAS-laden stormwater runoff at those facilities to prevent contamination of drinking water.

“Preventing PFAS contamination from leaving DoD facilities in the first place would go a long way towards protecting firefighters, service members, and the drinking water sources for families,” the lawmakers wrote. “Importantly, Sec. 319 would also significantly improve the cost-efficiency of PFAS remediation funding already authorized for DoD by reducing how much PFAS needs to be cleaned up in the future.”

As of 2021, the DoD had identified 700 installations across the nation that are likely contaminated with PFAS chemicals, which have been linked to various cancers, reduced immune function, reproductive challenges, birth defects and other human health impacts.

In Henrico, federal studies confirmed the presence of PFAS in water near Richmond International Airport in 2017, then documented in a federal report in 2019 – but Henrico officials were not informed of the studies and didn't learn about the chemicals until late 2021.

Officials believe that former military operations at the airport may be responsible for the presence of PFAS there, since the chemicals are contained in firefighting foam traditionally used at such locations.