SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The climate action and legal group Earthjustice sued the Department of Defense Thursday for endangering public health by unsafely incinerating PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals." (Photo: Master Sgt. Ken Hammond / U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons)
Earthjustice Sues DOD for 'Short-sighted and Illegal' Incineration of PFAS in Communities Across Country
"Incineration does not solve the Defense Department's PFAS problems; it just pawns them off on already overburdened communities."
Feb 19, 2020
Slamming the Department of Defense for endangering the health of people in communities across the U.S., environmental law group Earthjustice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon for the military's unsafe disposal of the class of substances known as "forever chemicals."
Earthjustice is suing the department over its contracts in communities across the country to incinerate unused firefighting foam, which contains PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals are used in many everyday products, and the DOD is the nation's biggest user of firefighting foam that contains them.
Green groups call PFAS "forever chemicals" because they don't easily break down and can stay in the environment and people's bodies for decades after exposure.
In a statement, Earthjustice cited the CDC as saying "the presence and concentration of PFAS in U.S. drinking water presents 'one of the most seminal public health challenges for the next decades.'"
The DOD's unsafe incineration is taking place towns across the country, including East Liverpool, Ohio; Arkadelphia and El Dorado, Arkansas; and Cohoes, New York. East Liverpool was among the towns named as a plaintiff in Earthjustice's suit.
Earthjustice said in its lawsuit that the DOD practices are potentially exposing residents to cancer and other health problems.
"The Department of Defense failed to conduct any environmental review before approving this incineration, bringing into new communities the risk of PFAS emissions and other pollution that are proven to harm public health," Earthjustice said.
The government's contracts to incinerate the foam are in violation of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Earthjustice said, which states that the DOD must incinerate PFAS at a high enough temperature to break them down and that it's required to phase out foam that contains the chemicals.
"DOD's decision to authorize large-scale PFAS incineration without considering the health impacts is shortsighted and illegal," Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a staff attorney with Earthjustice, told The Hill.
"Incineration does not solve the Defense Department's PFAS problems; it just pawns them off on already overburdened communities," he added.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
centers for disease control (cdc)earthjusticeenvironmentpfaspentagonpublic healthus militaryforever chemicals
Slamming the Department of Defense for endangering the health of people in communities across the U.S., environmental law group Earthjustice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon for the military's unsafe disposal of the class of substances known as "forever chemicals."
Earthjustice is suing the department over its contracts in communities across the country to incinerate unused firefighting foam, which contains PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals are used in many everyday products, and the DOD is the nation's biggest user of firefighting foam that contains them.
Green groups call PFAS "forever chemicals" because they don't easily break down and can stay in the environment and people's bodies for decades after exposure.
In a statement, Earthjustice cited the CDC as saying "the presence and concentration of PFAS in U.S. drinking water presents 'one of the most seminal public health challenges for the next decades.'"
The DOD's unsafe incineration is taking place towns across the country, including East Liverpool, Ohio; Arkadelphia and El Dorado, Arkansas; and Cohoes, New York. East Liverpool was among the towns named as a plaintiff in Earthjustice's suit.
Earthjustice said in its lawsuit that the DOD practices are potentially exposing residents to cancer and other health problems.
"The Department of Defense failed to conduct any environmental review before approving this incineration, bringing into new communities the risk of PFAS emissions and other pollution that are proven to harm public health," Earthjustice said.
The government's contracts to incinerate the foam are in violation of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Earthjustice said, which states that the DOD must incinerate PFAS at a high enough temperature to break them down and that it's required to phase out foam that contains the chemicals.
"DOD's decision to authorize large-scale PFAS incineration without considering the health impacts is shortsighted and illegal," Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a staff attorney with Earthjustice, told The Hill.
"Incineration does not solve the Defense Department's PFAS problems; it just pawns them off on already overburdened communities," he added.
Slamming the Department of Defense for endangering the health of people in communities across the U.S., environmental law group Earthjustice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon for the military's unsafe disposal of the class of substances known as "forever chemicals."
Earthjustice is suing the department over its contracts in communities across the country to incinerate unused firefighting foam, which contains PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals are used in many everyday products, and the DOD is the nation's biggest user of firefighting foam that contains them.
Green groups call PFAS "forever chemicals" because they don't easily break down and can stay in the environment and people's bodies for decades after exposure.
In a statement, Earthjustice cited the CDC as saying "the presence and concentration of PFAS in U.S. drinking water presents 'one of the most seminal public health challenges for the next decades.'"
The DOD's unsafe incineration is taking place towns across the country, including East Liverpool, Ohio; Arkadelphia and El Dorado, Arkansas; and Cohoes, New York. East Liverpool was among the towns named as a plaintiff in Earthjustice's suit.
Earthjustice said in its lawsuit that the DOD practices are potentially exposing residents to cancer and other health problems.
"The Department of Defense failed to conduct any environmental review before approving this incineration, bringing into new communities the risk of PFAS emissions and other pollution that are proven to harm public health," Earthjustice said.
The government's contracts to incinerate the foam are in violation of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Earthjustice said, which states that the DOD must incinerate PFAS at a high enough temperature to break them down and that it's required to phase out foam that contains the chemicals.
"DOD's decision to authorize large-scale PFAS incineration without considering the health impacts is shortsighted and illegal," Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a staff attorney with Earthjustice, told The Hill.
"Incineration does not solve the Defense Department's PFAS problems; it just pawns them off on already overburdened communities," he added.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.