A new report reveals that hundreds of military installations across the country are facing major delays in cleaning up toxic "forever chemicals"—and North Carolina is among the host states in the crosshairs.
The Pentagon has quietly pushed back its timeline to clean up toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—or PFAS—at 243 separate military sites. This marks the third time this year the Department of Defense, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has delayed these critical cleanups.
Here in North Carolina, the rolling delays are hitting close to home. Major installations like Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Fort Bragg are all grappling with extensive PFAS contamination from decades of using military-grade firefighting foam. The chemicals have seeped heavily into local groundwater.
Environmental advocates say the delays are dangerous. At Fort Bragg, the Army recently had to launch emergency outreach to test private drinking wells in nearby communities like Spring Lake, where the toxic plumes have threatened local water supplies. Meanwhile, recent independent testing at Cherry Point showed PFAS levels at up to 12 times legal limits.
Pentagon officials defend the timeline shift. They argue it isn't a slowdown, but rather the result of an expanding workload, evolving federal regulations, and the sheer complexity of testing hundreds of sites.
But lawmakers aren't buying it. A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators is demanding Secretary Hegseth reverse the postponements immediately, warning that stalling puts service members, their families, and neighboring North Carolina communities at serious risk.
The Defense Department maintains it is committed to transparency as site evaluations continue.
