The Navy has conducted sampling of private drinking water wells within a sampling area near Naval Research Laboratory Chesapeake Bay Detachment for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The Navy will continue responding to new requests for private drinking water sampling within the sampling area.
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If you have questions about the drinking water sampling or are a property owner with a drinking water well in the sampling area please call 202-685-0384 or email NAVFAC_WASH_PUBLICAFFAIRSOFFICE@us.navy.mil and leave a message. A Navy representative will respond to your message.
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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 because of their stain- and water-repellent properties. 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 policies to address past releases of PFAS at installations nationwide.
The most common activity that could have resulted in the historical release of PFAS to the environment at NRL-CBD (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 NRL-CBD and have been detected in nearby private drinking water wells that are located in the direction that the groundwater flows away from NRL-CBD.
Figure 1. Base Location Map
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 April 2029 to meet these standards.
In September 2024, the 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 shows the levels that all of DoD, including the Navy, is authorized to use to address PFAS in private drinking water wells.
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) |
These levels are based on current EPA NPDWR levels. If EPA updates applicable requirements, DoD will review and update its policy as appropriate.
Private Drinking Water Well Sampling near NRL-CBD
Certain PFAS have been detected in groundwater at NRL-CBD above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells. In 2018, the Navy conducted sampling of 42 private drinking water wells near NRL-CBD. PFOA and/or PFOS were not detected above 70 ppt in private drinking water wells, which was the Navy’s action level at the time.
In consideration of the September 2024 DoD policy, the Navy re-evaluated on-base groundwater results and the 2018 off-base private drinking water well results. Based on this information, the Navy identified one, currently in-use, off-base drinking water well above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells within the 2018 sampling area (Table 2). The Navy is implementing an enduring solution for that well. The Navy also determined that the off-base drinking water sampling near NRL-CBD should be expanded (Figure 2).
Beginning in September 2025 and through October 2025, additional private drinking water well sampling was conducted near NRL-CBD. Sampling was offered to property owners of parcels with private drinking water sources located in the sampling area (Figure 2), including those previously sampled by the Navy. One additional private drinking water well was identified to have PFAS levels that are at or above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells.
Table 2 presents a summary of private drinking water well sampling to date. Table 3 presents the individual results to date.
Table 2. NRL-CBD – Private Drinking Water Well Results Summary as of November 2025
| Dates of Sampling |
Number of Wells Sampled |
Number of wells with no detections of PFAS with DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for private drinking water wells |
Number of wells with detections of PFAS below the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for private drinking water wells |
Number of wells with detections of PFAS at or above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for private drinking water wells |
Number of wells with detections of PFOA and/or PFOS above 70 ppt |
| 2018 |
42 |
39 |
1 |
2a |
0 |
| 2025 |
52 |
37 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
aOne well is no longer in use and not used for drinking water at this time.