Camp Pendleton leaders on Monday sent a public notice to thousands of service members and civilians who live and work on the base’s north end alerting them that recent testing revealed their drinking water contained a higher-than-desired level of PFAS, a potentially carcinogenic chemical that has been found in much of Southern California’s groundwater supply.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances, can be found in cleaning products, water-resistant fabrics, grease-resistant paper and non-stick cookware, as well as in products such as shampoo, dental floss and nail polish. The state only set requirements to test for the chemicals in the last few years and has lowered the threshold for when their detection needs to be reported to the public by water agencies.
Water districts throughout Southern California have been struggling to get PFAS levels down. Base officials believe their water supply was likely impacted by groundwater that seeped in from inland and uphill Orange County.
For example, of the roughly 200 wells managed by the Orange County Water District in the north and central parts of the county, 61 have had to be closed. A water treatment plant in Fullerton to remove PFAS contaminants went into service in 2021.
The letter sent by Brig. Gen. Jason Woodworth, the base commander, alerted about 18,000 people at the San Onofre housing area, where Marines live with their families, as well as the Fifth Marine Regiment and the School of Infantry that results on Feb. 14 from the base’s northern water treatment plant tested at 23.5 parts per trillion in the drinking water, which is higher than the reporting threshold the state’s Department of Drinking Water set in October at 20 parts per trillion.
One part per trillion is about the same as four grains of sugar in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
The base is blending the water in several wells – one of the approved options for reducing PFAS levels – and are awaiting new testing results.
“The…
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