Officials exploit loophole to shirk responsibility over toxic contamination: 'Monster that is just omnipresent every day'

Against the backdrop of global geopolitical tensions, the term "defense" is on everyone's lips. But in this article, it's for a different reason: The U.S. military has been found responsible for contaminating New Mexico's waters with "forever chemicals," but the Department of Defense has decided to deprive the state of its rights.

What's happening in New Mexico?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are basically everywhere. From cookware to clothing items to firefighting foams, this group of highly toxic chemicals is known to be very pervasive.

Laura Paskus knows that firsthand. The writer, who is based in Albuquerque, called in an opinion piece for Source NM for transparency after the U.S. Department of Defense sued New Mexico when the state asked for a cleanup of groundwater contaminated with PFAS in the 1970s by the military at Cannon Air Force Base, Holloman Air Force Base, Kirtland Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, and Fort Wingate.

"As the federal government openly challenges — or just ignores — the authority of states to protect their own lands, waters, and people, New Mexicans can't be kept in the dark about what we face from legacy or emerging pollutants," Paskus said.

As New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney told her in an interview, "I spend a lot of time battling the PFAS monster that is just omnipresent every day with some new filing or some new denial of access or whatever it is." In his view, "there is no single more recalcitrant polluter, that is more litigious, than the Department of Defense."

Why is the federal government's response concerning?

Access to clean water is a basic right. And yet, New Mexico has already spent some $12 million on litigation, and millions more on testing well water and the blood of residents in the area, according to Paskus, in vain. 

For Kenney, the Pentagon is trampling the rights of the state. "Where is this notion of cooperative federalism, that states' rights are supreme when implementing federal law?" he wondered.

PFAS are also long-lasting and harmful to the environment and human health, with consequences ranging from birth defects to immune system problems to certain cancers.

The toxic chemicals have since spread beyond Cannon, at the risk of endangering more people.

What is being done to reduce PFAS pollution?

According to the American environmental advocacy group Clean Water Action, there are a few simple actions you can take to avoid ingesting PFAS, including ditching nonstick cookware, using your own containers for takeout, buying untreated carpets, and avoiding stain-resistant clothes.

Meanwhile, Paskus is calling on New Mexicans to go past their political views and "at least align with one another to protect the state's waters."

Do you worry about having toxic forever chemicals in your home? Majorly 😥 Sometimes 😟 Not really 😐 I don't know enough about them 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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