By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Tucson could see its groundwater cleaned of PFAS sooner than originally thought, thanks to a potential partnership between the city and the nonprofit Warbird National.
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After the discovery that groundwater under Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was contaminated by PFAS, a lawsuit deemed it the responsibility of the U.S. Air Force to fund the cleaning of the water. City officials say that process would take more than a decade, as Tucson is far down on the government’s priority list.
“Right now, there is no near-term plan for the Air Force to address the PFAS at Davis-Monthan,” said Tim Thomure, Tucson City Manager.
“Groundwater underneath our feet is always moving. It’s very slowly moving, but it’s always moving. And if you don’t begin to contain the PFAS, it just keeps moving further and further out,” Thomure said.
The contamination has caused the city to remove dozens of wells from active service. Thomure said that is why the city is considering a partnership that could move the cleanup process to happen within the next two to three years.
According to the city of Tucson, Air Force retiree group Warbird National got the Air Force to agree to pay around $20 million toward PFAS groundwater cleanup. In return, Tucson would have to allow Warbird to build a golf course in an area southeast of the base. The proposal will go before mayor and council next week.
“Job number one is to keep the PFAS from moving further into the aquifer, and job number two is then to remove that water, treat it, and then put that resulting treated water to beneficial use,” Thomure said.
Yolanda Herrera, of the Unified Community Advisory Board, said the partnership is a step in the right direction. Herrera saw firsthand how contaminated water impacted her community’s health.
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“We’ve lost generations of people,” Herrera said.
Herrera’s father was one of the people responsible for discovering TCE, a different contaminant, in Tucson water wells in the 1980s. She is now an advocate for groundwater cleaning.
“My goal is to make sure it doesn’t impact my grandkids and their children,” Herrera said.
Thomure said there are some hesitancies with the proposal.
“Just by entering into a memorandum of understanding, it means we have the intention of doing something, but there’s a lot that would have to come from Warbird itself in order to make everything work,” Thomure said.
Even if the partnership moves forward, Thomure said some are already opposed to the building of another golf course in the city, especially considering its water use. Thomure said the water for the golf course would not come from Tucson Water’s portfolio.
“Even though we’ll probably get some pushback from others, they have to understand the bigger picture. It’s trying to get this cleaned out,” Herrera said.
Thomure has recommended the city move forward with a memorandum of understanding. Mayor and council will decide if that will happen at their meeting next week. Thomure said if the partnership were to go forward, it would be at no cost to the city of Tucson or any Tucson residents.
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