A comprehensive EPA study has found detectable levels of PFAS — the so-called "forever chemicals" linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and immune suppression — in approximately 45 percent of US tap water samples tested nationwide. PFAS compounds are nearly indestructible in the environment …
It's been almost five years since Brandi and Brad Hyatt found out the well at their home next to an Army base in Washington is contaminated with "forever chemicals."
Phoebe Hyatt, 11, fills a glass from a water dispenser in her family's kitchen in East Selah, Washington, near the Army's Yakima Training Center. Even after the Army installed a PFAS filter in 2025, the family still drinks bottled water out of an abundance of caution.
Firefighters spray PFAS-laden foam to put out a helicopter fire during a training exercise in 2007. Firefighting foams form a "blanket" over liquid fuel that helps extinguish fires quickly. The Pentagon has extended its deadline to stop using the foam to October 2027.
PFAS cleanup timelines at over 500 military sites have quietly shifted back since the Pentagon first announced them in 2021. Larger spikes indicate longer delays.
Director Casey Sixkiller of the Washington Department of Ecology met with neighbors frustrated by lack of progress on cleaning up PFAS contamination around the Army's Yakima Training Center on Aug. 25, 2025 in East Selah, Washington.
Jacob Carnes, left, and Lili White of the Washington Department of Ecology collect water samples from a pond near the Army's Yakima Training Center. Wells at more than 140 homes nearby have tested over the EPA's drinking water limit for PFAS.
Director Casey Sixkiller of the Washington Department of Ecology met with neighbors frustrated by lack of progress on cleaning up PFAS contamination around the Army's Yakima Training Center on Aug. 25, 2025 in East Selah, Washington.
Jacob Carnes, left, and Lili White of the Washington Department of Ecology collect water samples from a pond near the Army's Yakima Training Center. Wells at more than 140 homes nearby have tested over the EPA's drinking water limit for PFAS.
Firefighters spray PFAS-laden foam to put out a helicopter fire during a training exercise in 2007. Firefighting foams form a "blanket" over liquid fuel that helps extinguish fires quickly. The Pentagon has extended its deadline to stop using the foam to October 2027.
PFAS cleanup timelines at over 500 military sites have quietly shifted back since the Pentagon first announced them in 2021. Larger spikes indicate longer delays.
Phoebe Hyatt, 11, fills a glass from a water dispenser in her family's kitchen in East Selah, Washington, near the Army's Yakima Training Center. Even after the Army installed a PFAS filter in 2025, the family still drinks bottled water out of an abundance of caution.
