Wells get clean bill from Department of Health

New Mexico’s Department of Health has received results for 82 private wells near Cannon Air Force Base tested for a chemical contamination, none of which were above a Lifetime Health Advisory established by the EPA.

Officials tested for certain Per- and Poly Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), chemicals potentially harmful to human health that were found to have leaked into groundwater from a firefighting foam used in training exercises on base. The Air Force announced in August it was looking into the potential contamination, and found in October that three out of 25 sites tested within a four mile area southeast of the base had PFAS levels exceeding the EPA LHA of 70 parts per trillion.

In an announcement on the potential contamination, the state’s Environment Department encouraged those using private wells within a four-mile impact zone use bottled water for drinking and cooking until their water sources were tested.

NMDOH officials said the tests they conducted from Oct. 31- Nov. 2 were “inside the 4-mile radius of the base’s property boundary,” and did not include wells already tested by the Air Force. They did not on Friday answer a question as to if those tests were limited to the “impact zone” defined by the Air Force and restricted to an area southeast of the base.

As to whether any of the 82 test results indicated any concentration of PFAS, NMDOH Communications Director Paul Rhien told The News that “we would like to finish speaking directly with well owners before commenting publicly on the specifics of test results.”

NMDOH has “an additional 8 private wells that have been tested or scheduled for testing,” he added.