'Forever chemical' cleanup timelines pushed back at New Mexico Air Force bases

The timelines for cleaning up PFAS contamination at New Mexico’s three Air Force bases have been moved back by as much as six years, according to Department of Defense documents.

Cannon and Holloman Air Force bases are the sources of some of the most concentrated and concerning PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — in the state, according to New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney.

At Cannon, PFAS, commonly called “forever chemicals” because of how long they take to break down, can be found in the water at 26,000 parts per trillion, Kenney said. The drinking water standard is 4 parts per trillion.

The chemicals have been linked to health issues such as cancer, changes to liver function, thyroid disease, and pregnancy complications. They have often been used in firefighting foam and can be found in household products like non-stick cookware.

In December under the Biden administration, the Department of Defense released a document showing PFAS cleanup timelines for more than 700 military installations nationwide. An updated version of the document was released in March, and according to a New York Times analysis, cleanup of the forever chemicals have been delayed by up to a decade at close to 140 military installations, including Cannon, Kirtland and Holloman Air Force bases in New Mexico.

“I think New Mexicans have to realize that the Air Force is not there for them,” Kenney said. “... They’re doing a lot for the community itself, in terms of economic engine and those types of things. But when it comes to public health, when it comes to New Mexico’s most precious resource — our water — they’re AWOL.”

Cannon Air Force Base has a PFAS plume of contaminated groundwater that’s accumulated over time, which reaches outside of the base perimeter by about 4 miles. A recent study conducted by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) of 628 Curry County residents living near the base found that people who lived or worked in the plume area had more than three times the national average level of PFAS in their systems.

Cannon Air Force Base directed the Journal to reach out to the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, which did not respond by the Journal’s deadline. Kirtland Air Force Base did not respond to questions.

The Pentagon referred questions to U.S. Air Force Public Affairs, which did not respond.

Holloman Air Force Base was not able to explain why the cleanup timeline had changed on Friday, in part because some civilian staff were furloughed due to the federal government shutdown, said Master Sgt. Nathan Lipscomb, the 49th Wing public affairs superintendent.

The Air Force began using firefighting foam that contained two PFAS chemicals in 1970, but transitioned to a firefighting foam with only trace amounts by 2018, according to the NMED study.

The timeline for completing remedial investigation and a feasibility study of PFAS cleanup for Cannon was pushed back six years, from August 2026 to June 2032, according to the DOD documents. Finishing the remedial investigation and feasibility study means the base can move on to cleaning up the contamination.

“Delaying it means only greater exposure, greater contamination, a bigger plume, and more health impacts,” Kenney said.

The U.S. Air Force sued New Mexico in 2019, arguing the state did not have the authority to issue a corrective action that stipulated how it should clean up the PFAS plume.

That case is awaiting a decision from a panel of judges in Denver, and the two entities are in mediation over that lawsuit, Kenney said. The state is also a bellwether case in a South Carolina-based class action lawsuit connected to PFAS contamination from the Air Force. New Mexico has already presented its side on that case, while the U.S. Department of Justice has sought an extension.

The timeline for completing remedial investigation and a feasibility study of PFAS cleanup for Holloman Air Force Base was delayed by five years, from 2027 to June 2032, according to the DOD documents.

In 2024, a University of New Mexico research team found unexpectedly high levels of PFAS contamination in wild animals around Holloman Lake, which is between the Air Force base and White Sands National Park. NMED is going to kick off a new Holloman Lake study, asking people who have recreated at Holloman Lake to self identify, so they can be connected with resources.

The timeline for PFAS cleanup at Kirtland Air Force Base was delayed by three years, pushing completion of a remedial investigation and feasibility study back from September 2029 to June 2032, according to the DOD documents.

Bernalillo County Commission Chairman Eric Olivas said he had not heard that the timeline had shifted. He thinks dragging out timelines on environmental remediation at federal facilities is unacceptable.

“In the current political environment, everything is kind of tinged with partisanship,” Olivas said. “And you wonder, are these things that are just being done to blue cities, blue states as retribution? And I don’t think that environmental issues — they shouldn’t be political.”