The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) announced that initiated construction for a new PFAS project in Tucson and successfully transferred $2 million to the City of Tucson to restart its treatment plant.
Following Governor Doug Ducey’s June 2021 announcement, ADEQ worked with the City of Tucson to expedite an intergovernmental agreement and completed the transfer of $2 million in funding on July 30, 2021.
“Arizona’s investment will help the City of Tucson restart the treatment plant that was forced to shut down because of PFAS groundwater contamination and get the plant back online as quickly as possible to safely meet the plant’s original purpose,” said ADEQ Director Misael Cabrera, P.E.
Earlier in July 2021, ADEQ broke ground on construction of the Central Tucson PFAS Project demonstration remedy designed to remove PFAS from groundwater and contain the PFAS plume in the area north of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. ADEQ’s demonstration remedy is expediting action to prevent additional drinking water well impacts in the short-term while the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) continues to investigate sources of PFAS related to the base.
The demonstration remedy involves installing a wellhead treatment system to protect Tucson’s central wellfield, an important part of the area’s long-term drinking water supply. Construction activities are expected to continue into the fall.
In April, Arizona Governor Ducey wrote to DOD Secretary Lloyd Austin calling on DOD to promptly act to address known PFAS groundwater contamination near Arizona’s four military installations.
SOURCE: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
