The state of New Mexico is suing the U.S. Air Force over "forever chemical" pollution from a military base.
The suit alleges the Air Force refused to comply with orders to address extremely high levels of PFAS that have contaminated drinking water, damaged crops and poisoned dairy cows.
The military has acknowledged that firefighting foam from the Cannon Air Force Base, located near the state's border with Texas, is the source of the PFAS pollution, which has resulted in a 4-mile chemical plume in the aquifer below the city of Clovis.
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The state also claimed that the toxic plume resulted in the euthanizing of 3,500 dairy cows poisoned from drinking contaminated groundwater, devastating local agriculture.
The new lawsuit is the latest in a seven-year battle over the pollution. Recent changes to New Mexico state law have strengthened New Mexico's legal position.
In addition to cleaning up the pollution, the state wants the Air Force to end its use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, provide water treatment systems to affected residents, install drinking water lines for willing residents, hold regular public meetings with the community, install stormwater controls to prevent offsite migration of PFAS and compensate the property owners for any losses they suffered as a result of PFAS contamination.
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PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemical compounds used to make products water and stain resistant. More than 15,000 compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems.
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