[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: Wheeler Army Airfield, HI

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

An examination of PFAS contamination at Wheeler Army Airfield
The Army routinely violates federal law.

By Pat Elder
Military Poisons  
February 1, 2026

The U.S. Army is flouting the intent and enforcement mechanisms of federal law designed to regulate and remediate PFAS contamination at Wheeler Army Airbase and throughout Hawaiʻi. It systematically narrows the scope of investigations, minimizes documented contamination, and delays meaningful cleanup. As it has for decades, the Army prioritizes weapons systems and operational budgets over environmental responsibility, public health, and the communities left to live with the consequences of its pollution.

In doing so, the Army has made a mockery of the CERCLA investigatory and remedial process—a failure that remains largely invisible to the public. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was enacted by Congress in 1980 to compel polluters to identify, contain, and clean up hazardous contamination. From the outset, the Department of Defense aggressively opposed the law, fully aware that enforceable liability for chronic contamination would expose the military to enormous cleanup obligations. That resistance never disappeared; it simply evolved.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.militarypoisons.org/latest-news/an-examination-of-pfas-contamination-at-wheeler-army-airbase

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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