VIEW THIS MAP FULLSCREEN IN A NEW WINDOWThe ten square-mile Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site is depicted using orange diagonal lines. The site includes Tucson International Airport, Sections of the Tohono O'odham Nation (San Xavier District), Tucson and South Tucson residential areas, and Air Force Plant #44 Raytheon Missile Systems Company (AFP44). The site has contaminated groundwater and soil from former aircraft and electronics manufacturing and aircraft maintenance, fire drill trainings, and the leaking of chemicals from unlined landfills.
The U.S. Air Force has formally requested that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drop its administrative emergency order for the remediation of per - and -polyfluoroakyl substances known as PFAS at the Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site (TIAASS).
In May, the EPA called on the Air Force and Arizona Air National Guard (AANG) to abate the actual and potential imminent and substantial threat of PFAS, to human health pursuant to Section 1431(a) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
In a document served on the EPA Region 9, the Air Force has asked the EPA to engage with other stakeholders who have used PFAS at the Airport Site, such as the Tucson International Airport, and argues that the EPA is legally without jurisdiction to issue the order.
The Air Force claims that there is no imminent and substantial endangerment to human health, that the state and local authorities have sufficiently acted to protect human health, and that it is impossible to comply with the emergency order.
To hear more about PFAS, EPA, and the Tucson Area Remediation Project site, stay tuned for next week’s episode of Tapped, a podcast that explores the issues of water in the Southwest.
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