For families living near military bases, the wait for clean drinking water is stretching into decades, USA Today reported.
A new review found that hundreds of United States military sites have pushed back PFAS cleanup timelines. Some have even removed firm deadlines altogether.
What happened?
According to USA Today, almost three-quarters of the 700-plus military installations examined have seen their PFAS timelines delayed at least once.
Most of those schedule shifts happened in 2025, and some of the revised dates were moved back by 10 years or more.
On military bases, PFAS were commonly used in firefighting foam. The chemicals are highly persistent, which is where they get their name of "forever chemicals." They linger in soil and groundwater for years, and they have been tied to certain cancers and other serious health concerns.
Washington homeowner Brandi Hyatt, who lives near the U.S. Army's Yakima Training Center, said that after PFAS were found in her well, her family depended on bottled water and took their children elsewhere for baths.
TCD Picks » Good Store Spotlight
Get 10% off your next purchase with code TCD10
"They do not tell us anything," Hyatt said.
USA Today reported that water testing near 73 bases found PFAS levels above the current Environmental Protection Agency drinking water limit, and just two of those bases have avoided cleanup delays.
Why is this concerning?
Many of the postponed deadlines are tied to the investigation phase — work that identifies how far the contamination extends and what kind of response is needed. If that stage slips, the actual cleanup may be pushed back even longer.
For people living nearby, that can leave a long period of doubt about whether the water from their taps can be trusted.
"To find out that dream is potentially killing you, it's just really hard," Hyatt said about the place where she wanted to raise her children, according to USA Today.
Residents say the moving timelines have been made even more frustrating by the lack of clear public notice.
Sen. Patty Murray echoed the criticism.
In a letter to the Department of Defense, as reported by USA Today, Murray wrote, "Instead of consulting with community leaders and announcing the delays to the public, the department instead chose to quietly remove the previous cleanup schedule from its website and publish new timelines."
People around these bases cannot control the contamination, but they can end up carrying the health worries, financial pressure, and loss of confidence that come when essential information is hard to find.
What's being done?
Military officials say the revised schedules do not signal a retreat from PFAS cleanup.
USA Today reported that Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Orlandon Howard wrote in an email, "They reflect ongoing technical work, not a change in our commitment."
Howard also said the Army has installed 71 in-home filtration systems near Yakima and is supplying bottled water in some situations.
The outlet also stated that, at a meeting, environmental restoration program manager William Myer said, "We're actively doing a groundwater design to construct a groundwater treatment system."
Even so, state regulators and local advocates argue that the response needs to move faster and be far more transparent.
Greg Caron, who manages hazardous waste cleanup in the area for the state's ecology department, said: "But any timeline that's a decade long is troubling."
After what she described as a "really long, frightening process," Hyatt created an advocacy group called Pursue PFAS Free.
"Everyone deserves to be safe in their homes," Hyatt said. "Stop telling us what you're going to do for us and how good it's going to be, and let us be a part of what's happening."
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
