Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads Northwest Annex

Environmental Restoration Program Public Website

The Navy is requesting permission to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in private drinking water wells near Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads Northwest Annex (Northwest Annex) and conduct additional sampling of certain private drinking water wells.

Property owners with a drinking water well in the sampling area may call 833-NWANNEX (833-692-6639) to schedule a sampling appointment.

If you have questions about the drinking water sampling, please email: nsahamptonroadspao@us.navy.mil or call and leave a detailed message at 833-NWANNEX (833-692-6639). A Navy representative will return your call.

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 Northwest Annex (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 Northwest Annex and have been detected in nearby drinking water wells that are located in the direction that the groundwater flows away from Northwest Annex.

Figure 1 – Northwest Annex Layout

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 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 Northwest Annex

Certain PFAS have been detected in groundwater at Northwest Annex. As a result, a sampling area has been established 1 mile in the direction that groundwater flows away from the locations of these detections (Figure 2). The Navy sampled 75 private drinking water wells near Northwest Annex in 2019. PFOA and/or PFOS were detected in one private drinking water well above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells and the Navy has implemented an enduring solution for that property. Beginning in May 2025, additional private drinking water well sampling occurred near Northwest Annex. Sampling included new wells based on additional information discovered about groundwater flow at Northwest Annex and the resampling of wells sampled in 2019. During this sampling, there were no detections at or above the DoD PFAS Interim Action Levels for Private Drinking Water Wells.

Table 2 presents the results of the private drinking water well sampling to date. Table 3 presents the individual results to date.

Table 2. Northwest Annex –Private Drinking Water Well Results Summary as of July 10, 2025

Year	Number of Wells Sampled	Number of wells with no detections of Certain PFAS¹	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 ppt²
2025	44	39	5	0	0
2019	75	55	19	1	0

¹Certain PFAS include PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS.

²For any drinking water wells with PFOA and/or PFOS individually or combined above 70 ppt, the Navy can provide bottled water for drinking and cooking until a more enduring solution is implemented.

Table 3.  Northwest Annex – Private Drinking Water Well Results

Table 3.  Northwest Annex – Private Drinking Water Well Results

At this time, the Navy is requesting permission to sample private drinking water wells located in the sampling area (Figure 2). The Navy is also requesting permission to resample private drinking water wells located in the sampling area that were previously sampled by the Navy in 2019.

Figure 2 – Sampling Area

Actions Based on Private Drinking Water Sampling Results

The preliminary results from the private drinking water well sampling are expected approximately 30 days after collecting the samples. The Navy provides notification to the property owners and tenants of their drinking water results and any follow-up actions, if needed.

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. Options for enduring solutions may include 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.

Identification of PFAS Releases at Northwest Annex

A PFAS Preliminary Assessment (PA) was finalized in 2019 (Tetra Tech, 2019) that identified areas where releases of PFAS may have occurred. Based on the results of the PFAS PA, a PFAS Site Inspection (SI) (Tetra Tech, 2021) and SI Addendum (Tetra Tech, 2023) were completed. Sample collection and analysis of groundwater, sediment and soil were conducted from June 2020 to July 2022. PFAS were found in groundwater and soil at Northwest Annex. The PFAS sites investigated at Northwest Annex are shown in Figure 3; Table 4 lists the release areas investigated during the SI and SI Addendum along with the recommended path forward. The Navy will continue investigating PFAS at Northwest Annex following the CERCLA process and will evaluate if actions are needed.

Figure 3 – PFAS Release Areas

Table 4. Northwest Annex Area of Concern Descriptions and Current Status

Description	Site Number	CERCLA Investigation Phase	Current Status (as of March 2025)
Building 349 – Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and Sludge Drying Beds	Site 1	RI	RI Sampling/Work Plan: In Navy review Fieldwork: To Be Determined
Area of Well Field 1 and Building 339 – Drinking Water Treatment Plant*
Building 6 – Fire Station
Helipad
Sludge Application Area	N/A	NFI at this time	N/A

RI – Remedial Investigation

N/A – Not Applicable

NFI – No Further Investigation

*Area of Well Field 1 and Building 339 – Drinking Water Treatment Plant is not shown on Figure 3 due to security concerns.