Navy hosting open house on potential presence of 'forever chemicals' near Camp David

Emmett Gartner, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Feb. 28—The Navy will hold an open house near Camp David on Wednesday to discuss plans and request residents' permission to test for "forever chemicals" in nearby wells.

The event will feature Navy representatives and officials from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Frederick County Health Department.

Residents within a one-mile radius of Camp David — known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont — whose wells the Navy wants to sample have already been sent written requests, according to a Navy press release. The Navy also sent information about what it is sampling for.

Residents on Thurmont's municipal water system are not part of the Navy's testing plans, the release said.

The release said the potential presence of the "forever chemicals" known as PFAS near Camp David may be from firefighting foam or other materials containing PFAS used at the base in the past.

The chemicals' "forever" label is based on how difficult the compounds are to break down and their ability to persist in the environment and humans for an unknown amount of time.

A Navy spokesperson said in an interview Tuesday that the department's plans to test nearby wells on Thursday and Friday are part of a broader effort to monitor for PFAS on Naval facilities nationwide.

The open house is meant to inform nearby residents about PFAS and why the Navy is asking to sample their wells.

"We just want people to come to the meeting, find out what we're doing and let people ask questions," said Naval District Washington Public Affairs Director Edward Zeigler. "That's what this is all about, so people can find out what we're doing, so we can sample their wells."

If the Navy identifies residential wells with water samples above a certain concentration of PFAS, the Navy release said, it will provide bottled water until an alternative drinking water source is found or a permanent solution is implemented.

A link to the release can be found at tinyurl.com/pfasforum. Questions can be sent via email to NDW_publicaffairs@us.navy.mil and by phone at833-222-3282, according to the release. A Navy representative will return callers' messages.