Colorado County to Consider Forever Chemicals Testing Agreement with Air Force

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners will soon have an option on the table to formalize a forever chemicals testing agreement with the Air Force over wells at Fountain Creek Regional Park.

Todd Marts, El Paso County director of community services, said in an informal meeting with commissioners on Tuesday that the U.S. Air Force has been regularly testing wells for two forever chemical types in "surrounding areas" including the park. The agreement would formalize continued access for the military.

PFOS and related PFOA are in a category of man-made chemicals commonly referred to as PFAS or "forever chemicals" for their persistence in the environment and in human bodies. Prolonged exposure to forever chemicals has been linked to adverse health effects including cancer.

Residents in and around Fountain and Security-Widefield were previously exposed to elevated levels of forever chemicals from firefighting foams used on Peterson Space Force Base. The communities have since put in systems to treat groundwater.

PFAS contamination around military installations has been documented in hundreds of other cases.

Air Force officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the proposed agreement.

Marts said that the two park wells, both near Fountain Creek and serving irrigation and bathroom facilities respectively, have generally tested under the set acceptable levels. According to a county spokesperson, testing began in 2019, taking place quarterly.

Kyle Melvin, county parks operations manager, said that Air Force testing usually generated results under 70 parts per trillion, a safety level based on a 2016 Environmental Protection Agency health advisory for PFOS and and PFOA chemicals. He said that levels have jumped above the threshold "once or twice," triggering the closing of bathroom facilities at the park usually during the offseason when usage is low.

The EPA has since issued interim advisories with lower parts per trillion cutoffs for safe values of PFOS and PFOA. As advisories and not regulations, the recommendations are not enforceable.

Marts said the county itself was not yet testing for forever chemicals in its other wells aside from data shared from the military. He said that the county was looking at adding forever chemicals to regular tests in the future.

The county did not have immediate plans to mitigate forever chemicals in park water, with Melvin pointing out that the chemicals lived up to their name.

"In the meantime, there's nothing we can do to remove the PFAS," he said.

El Paso County's parks department is considering the addition of a third well to serve the Fountain Creek Nature Center, will would also be subject to testing under the access agreement with the Air Force.

The contract will allow military access for testing for one year, with the option to renew for nine years. The El Paso County commissioners will vote on the agreement as an item at an upcoming public meeting.

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