The Navy is requesting property owner permission to sample private drinking water wells for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, near Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) Fentress.
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Property owners with a drinking water well in the sampling areas may call 1-800-931-6118 to schedule a sampling appointment. Appointments are currently being scheduled between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. June 11th through June 18th and June 23rd through June 30th.
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Introduction
PFAS are a family of thousands of different chemicals that have been used since the 1950s in many household and industrial products. PFAS are now present virtually everywhere in the world because of the large amounts that have been manufactured and used. Once these compounds are released, many of them tend to stay in the environment for a very long time. The Navy and Department of Defense (DoD) have developed proactive policies to address past releases of PFAS, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), at installations nationwide.
The most common activity that could have resulted in the historical release of PFAS to the environment at NALF Fentress (Figure 1) is the use of firefighting foam (specifically, aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF) for testing, training, firefighting, and other life-saving emergency responses. Because of this historical use, PFAS are present in the groundwater at NALF Fentress and have been detected in nearby private drinking water wells that are in the direction that the groundwater flows away from NALF Fentress.
On April 26, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) establishing nationwide drinking water standards for certain PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The regulation applies to public drinking water systems. Operators of public drinking water systems regulated by the NPDWR have until 2029 to meet these standards. In September 2024, DoD published “Prioritization of Department of Defense Cleanup Actions to Implement the Federal Drinking Water Standards for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program,” which describes DoD’s plans to incorporate the EPA’s drinking water regulation into DoD’s ongoing PFAS cleanups and prioritize actions to address private drinking water wells with the highest levels of PFAS from DoD activities.
Table 1 presents the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells. The DoD’s September 2024 policy memorandum can be found here.
Table 1. DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells
| PFAS |
Level |
| perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) |
12 parts per trillion (ppt) |
| perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) |
12 ppt |
| perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) |
30 ppt |
| perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) |
30 ppt |
| hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA or GenX) |
30 ppt |
| hazard index for mixture of at least two of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) |
3 (no units) |
Figure 1 – Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress
Addressing PFAS in Private Drinking Water Wells near NALF Fentress
The Navy previously established a sampling area in February 2016 0.5-mile away from on-base monitoring wells with PFOA and PFOS above the Navy’s action levels at that time, the EPA provisional health advisories for PFOA and PFOS, 400 ppt and 200 ppt, respectively. The sampling area was expanded after the release of the May 2016 EPA lifetime health advisories of 70 ppt for PFOA and/or PFOS, individually or combined. The expanded sampling area included all parcels within 0.5-mile of parcels with PFOA and/or PFOS above 70 ppt in private drinking water wells. Seven private drinking water wells had PFOA and/or PFOS above 70 ppt; the Navy continues to provide bottled water to these properties for drinking and cooking. The Navy continues to work with the City of Chesapeake to connect these properties to public water. Private drinking water well sampling was offered twice a year through 2024. The Navy has since re-evaluated the 2016-2024 private drinking water well results using the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells (Table 1). No additional private drinking water wells were at or above the DoD levels. The Navy has also determined that the sampling area near NALF Fentress should be expanded (Figure 2).
The Navy is requesting permission to sample private drinking water wells located in the expanded sampling areas (Figure 2). Due to improvements in laboratory methods, the Navy is also requesting permission to resample private drinking water wells that were previously sampled by the Navy.
Figure 2 – Sampling Areas
Results Communication
Preliminary drinking water well sampling results are typically received from the laboratory within approximately 30 days after sample collection. The Navy will call property owners (and tenants, if present) to provide preliminary drinking water well sampling results. Final drinking water well sampling results will be mailed to property owners (and tenants, if present) within 3 months after sample collection. Results will also be available online at: https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/eer/ecc/pfas/map/pfasmap.html. Individual results will not be linked with the sampled well or property on this website to ensure continued privacy of property owners and tenants.
Actions Based on Results
The Navy will address PFAS in private drinking water wells in keeping with the DoD policy:
PFAS at or above the DoD PFAS Interim Actions Levels for private drinking water wells (Table 1). The Navy will work with property owners to implement an enduring solution as soon as possible. Enduring solutions include connection to public water supply or installation of a drinking water treatment system. For any drinking water wells with PFOA and PFOS, individually or combined, above 70 ppt, the Navy will provide bottled water for drinking and cooking to property owners or tenants until a more enduring solution is implemented.
PFAS below the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for private drinking water wells (Table 1). For final remedial actions, the Navy will address drinking water down to EPA NPDWR or background levels in accordance with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) requirements.
2016 – Present Private Drinking Water Well Sampling
Since 2016, the Navy has offered to sample private drinking water wells near NALF Fentress, because of potential PFAS releases at NALF Fentress. The green sampling area, shown in Figure 2, was established in 2016 and the purple sampling area was established in 2025. Table 2 provides a summary of the results of the sampling. Table 3 presents the PFAS results. There were seven detections of PFOA and/or PFOS above 70 ppt, the Navy’s action level at the time. The Navy has provided bottled water for drinking and cooking and will continue to do so until an enduring solution is implemented.
Table 2. NALF Fentress – 2016-Present Private Drinking Water Well Results Summary
| Number of Wells Sampled |
Number of wells with no detections of PFOA or PFOS |
Number of Wells with detections of PFOA and/or PFOS below 70 ppt* |
Number of wells with detections of PFAS below the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels in Private Drinking Water Wells |
Number of wells with detections of PFAS at or above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels in Private Drinking Water Wells |
| 69 |
30 |
32 |
32 |
7 |
*70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, individually or combined, was DoD’s interim action level at the time of this sampling.
Table 3. NALF Fentress – 2016-Present Private Drinking Water Well Results
Identification of PFAS Releases at Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress
A PFAS Site Inspection (SI) and SI Addendum were conducted at sites identified to have a known or suspected release. Sample collection and analysis of on-base potable water, groundwater, soil, surface water, and sediment was conducted from December 2015 through November 2017 and 2019 through 2022. PFAS were found in on-base potable water, groundwater, soil, surface water, and sediment at NALF Fentress. The PFAS release areas investigated at NALF Fentress are depicted on Figure 3. Remedial investigations are ongoing at all release areas.
The Navy will continue to investigate PFAS at NALF Fentress following the CERCLA process and will evaluate if actions are needed.
Figure 3 – PFAS Release Areas
NALF Fentress Private Drinking Water Sampling Documents
Links
To learn more about the DoD’s response to PFAS in private drinking water wells, the November 19, 2024 DoD PFAS Outreach Event recording can be found here.