BREMERTON — Two wells bordering Naval Base Kitsap’s southern edge have been found to have potentially harmful levels of contamination caused by a firefighting foam used on the base.
The Navy is expanding testing this fall to examine a larger area for its presence, the Kitsap Sun reported.
The results come from an initial round of water testing for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known by their acronym, PFAS. A common chemical ingredient since the 1950s, PFAS have been found by the Environmental Protection Agency to be dangerous at certain levels in the bloodstream, raising risks for cancer and ill effects on the body’s immune and endocrine system and in human development.
Of the 292 wells sampled by the Navy in February, 83 showed some level of PFAS, the Navy said. Two wells were found to have more than 70 parts per trillion of PFAS compounds — an amount that triggers the EPA to issue a lifetime health advisory.