WASHINGTON – Jim Holmes knew serving in the U.S. military could cost him his life. He never imagined that living for many years on a military base might cost his daughter her life.
Holmes, a retired helicopter pilot, told a House subcommittee Tuesday that he believes drinking water contaminated by a firefighting foam 3M developed for the military contributed to the rare brain cancer that killed his child.
Minnesota-based 3M denies that the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS used in firefighting foam have hurt anyone at their current levels in the environment. Holmes spoke at a hearing on how PFAS may have put service members at risk.
The PFAS in firefighting foam polluted the drinking water at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., to levels 57,000 times greater than the health advisory limit set by Environmental Pollution Agency, Holmes said.
"I lost my only child to being poisoned by the same military that I served and faithfully fought for," Holmes told the House Appropriations Committee Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.
The Air Force recorded PFAS readings of 3.4 million parts per trillion on the Patrick base. The EPA says anything over 70 parts per trillion is potentially dangerous. Yet no one from the military warned service members or their families about the risks of these "forever chemicals" that do not break down in nature and accumulate in humans.
The EPA said they are linked to cancer, immune disorders, reproductive problems and an array of other health issues. PFAS have been identified in drinking-water systems at 328 military bases across the country, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental advocacy organization.
3M in 2019 said it stopped making and selling its firefighting foam "more than a decade ago." Maureen Sullivan, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment, outlined ways in which the government now limits PFAS-infused firefighting foam which it uses to put out high-temperature fuel fires. The foam, still made by manufacturers other than 3M, is no longer used in training or nonemergency situations. But it remains in use in emergencies, said Sullivan, because the military has not found a non-PFAS replacement that meets its standards for quickly extinguishing "petroleum-based fires."
