Two years after groundwater tests found “forever chemicals” at more than a dozen times the federal limit, the Environmental Protection Agency still lists Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point as having “human exposure under control.”
Records released by the Marine Corps show that on July 13, 2023, an off-base drinking-water well contained 50.2 parts per trillion of PFOS and 12.6 parts per trillion of PFOA. Both substances are part of a toxic family of compounds known as PFAS and, under a rule the EPA finalized last year, should not exceed 4 parts per trillion in finished drinking water.
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A fresh analysis by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) says Cherry Point is not alone: 14 other military Superfund sites around the country carry the same “under control” label even though nearby wells exceed federal limits.
“We found 15 bases where EPA’s own database says no one is being exposed, but the well tests say otherwise,” said Jared Hayes, EWG’s senior policy analyst and lead author of the report. “People are still drinking contaminated water, and the ‘all clear’ label slows the urgency to fix it.”
Why it matters
PFAS, shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, do not break down naturally and have been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, immune suppression and heart disease. The concentrations logged near Cherry Point are more than 12 times the legal threshold for PFOS and three times the limit for PFOA.
“Science from the past decade shows these chemicals are dangerous at extremely low levels,” Hayes said. “Long-term exposure at the numbers we saw in 2023 is a big deal.”
The contamination stems largely from decades of firefighting-foam use on the flight line. While the Pentagon says it is phasing out those foams, groundwater beneath and around the air station remains tainted.
A paperwork lag — or a policy failure?
Hayes believes the EPA’s Superfund database hasn’t caught up with its own science. Only last year did the agency list PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances, triggering stricter cleanup obligations.
“EPA needs to correct the record now, not in a year or two,” he said. “Communities deserve to know the risk and to get clean water.”
EPA says it will leave the 4-parts-per-trillion cap on PFOA and PFOS in place but will rescind and reconsider the new limits for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS—a step critics fear could erase those standards.
An EPA spokesperson said the agency has created a PFAS lead office, is drafting new effluent-limit guidelines “to stop these chemicals from entering drinking-water systems,” and last spring opened $945 million in grants to help small and disadvantaged communities tackle PFAS contamination.
The agency did not answer questions about why Cherry Point and 14 other bases remain labeled “human exposure under control.”
What residents can do
Hayes recommends private-well owners within a few miles of the base get their water tested and install NSF-certified filters if PFAS exceed 4 ppt. “But the cost shouldn’t fall on homeowners,” he added. “The military and EPA should make sure every family near these bases has safe water.”
A shifting regulatory landscape
The stakes may grow higher this fall. On Aug. 1, the EPA and industry challengers must propose a briefing schedule to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is weighing lawsuits over the drinking-water rule. Meanwhile, bellwether trials for PFAS-related, kidney cancer claims are set for October.
Hayes worries those legal battles could slow, or even roll back, parts of the rule — especially limits on PFHxS, another chemical common in firefighting foam.
“If standards weaken, bases with high PFHxS could avoid installing filters or providing bottled water,” he said. “That leaves communities like Havelock to bear the health burden.”
For now, the “human exposure under control” box next to Cherry Point remains checked, even as the chemicals documented in 2023 continue to flow underground — and, potentially, from kitchen taps.