Thank you, John. So glad to know you’re doing this work. In this installment, I was particularly keen on the Spokane details, as my daughter lives there.
Wow, I am learning so much through this series. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and the efforts of countless folks with us. As an Army family, this felt on the mark "The Army's response has been woefully inadequate, while the communication style has bordered on hostile." Their response to the rampant SA and femicides on their bases has been abhorrent, not surprising this is their organizational-wide approach. Thank you for teaching me, John!!!! Grateful for your voice in this.
I lost a bunch of subscribers after, can't be sure because of, that post. Servicemen and women, especially marines, have suffered disproportionately from the consequences of PFAS use on bases. Loyalty shouldn't have to be blind.
Oh my goodness, that can be disheartening, I am so thankful you've continued to write for those of us that can't wait to learn from your experiences and gained knowledge. Taylor (my husband) and I talk about this often, the blind loyalty is scary, but also a wanted by product of the military-machine. From the moment they enter, and every training thereafter, the same message of fraternal-loyalty is beaten into them (and yes, sometimes physically). It's how they convince them to go kill on their behalf. For about 5 years Taylor taught the Army leadership program for enlisted officers and it was wild some of the stories he would bring home. I will never forget the Army Ball after they had lost a serviceman in a training session. The entire round of speeches was congratulatory on their efforts to find this lost man, who tragically perished in the Florida summer heat, and not a single mention of the incompetence of letting a solider walk off a course and be lost for many days just a mile away. It was disgusting. It's all a farce.
I have two friends who were in the first female cohort at the Annapolis Naval Acadamy and have only good things to say about the Navy. The Airforce Acadamy in Colorado Springs is under the influence of the James Dobson crowd there. There does seem to be a deep cultural difference between the services.
I grew up just south of Great Lakes Naval Base, and our water came out of Lake Michigan, and the 70s-80s saw a pretty major cancer cluster there. (Of course, if you're going to poison people, poisoning rich people who don't believe in structural problems means you'll get away with it). One of my friends here in Livingston, who worked for decades with Doug Peacock on environmental issues, cut his teeth mapping the plume of PCBs that runs from Great Lakes all the way down to Indiana.
PCBs, yes. We have those from the Naval base in Everett and in the Duwamish and Elliott Bay from the WWI Boeing plant. And here on the Island, some from the Navy's Area 6 landfill.
Minnesota is home to 3M, one of the major manufacturers of PFAS, so was on this early. However, as in Washington, it appears that drinking water monitoring is not covering everyone. More on this in the next post.
Thank you so much for covering this issue in such depth, detail, and with local focus, John. We need more reporting like this, and more attention to what’s going on in all of our backyards, with (or without) our tax dollars.
I was on a Discord chat this morning with a group of science writers and the subject of journalistic ethics and responsibilities came up. Part of that is the expectation that journalists adopt a neutral impartial stance, with the subtle suggestion that that's the "right way" to cover a story. Well, clearly, that's not what I'm doing. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here, just stepping in to tell a story that no one else is covering, and hoping I don't screw up!
I hear similar positive comments from state agency staff. I guess I'll keep going.
What's the PFAS involvement in firefighting foam for wildfires? I mean, they've dumped that pink stuff across huge swathes of the landscape at this point.
Not much, if any. PFAS is used on fuel fires as it has the ability to spread out and form a film which cuts off oxygen and is indestructible enough to handle the conditions. It wouldn't help in a wildfire. What's used on those is fire retardant, a whole 'nother can of worms.
Thank you, John. So glad to know you’re doing this work. In this installment, I was particularly keen on the Spokane details, as my daughter lives there.
Thank you so much, Holly, for those kind words. I highly recommend Tim Connor's Substack. He writes extensively about the Spokane area.
Oh thanks!!
Wow, I am learning so much through this series. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and the efforts of countless folks with us. As an Army family, this felt on the mark "The Army's response has been woefully inadequate, while the communication style has bordered on hostile." Their response to the rampant SA and femicides on their bases has been abhorrent, not surprising this is their organizational-wide approach. Thank you for teaching me, John!!!! Grateful for your voice in this.
I lost a bunch of subscribers after, can't be sure because of, that post. Servicemen and women, especially marines, have suffered disproportionately from the consequences of PFAS use on bases. Loyalty shouldn't have to be blind.
Oh my goodness, that can be disheartening, I am so thankful you've continued to write for those of us that can't wait to learn from your experiences and gained knowledge. Taylor (my husband) and I talk about this often, the blind loyalty is scary, but also a wanted by product of the military-machine. From the moment they enter, and every training thereafter, the same message of fraternal-loyalty is beaten into them (and yes, sometimes physically). It's how they convince them to go kill on their behalf. For about 5 years Taylor taught the Army leadership program for enlisted officers and it was wild some of the stories he would bring home. I will never forget the Army Ball after they had lost a serviceman in a training session. The entire round of speeches was congratulatory on their efforts to find this lost man, who tragically perished in the Florida summer heat, and not a single mention of the incompetence of letting a solider walk off a course and be lost for many days just a mile away. It was disgusting. It's all a farce.
It's a tragic waste of young lives.
I have two friends who were in the first female cohort at the Annapolis Naval Acadamy and have only good things to say about the Navy. The Airforce Acadamy in Colorado Springs is under the influence of the James Dobson crowd there. There does seem to be a deep cultural difference between the services.
I grew up just south of Great Lakes Naval Base, and our water came out of Lake Michigan, and the 70s-80s saw a pretty major cancer cluster there. (Of course, if you're going to poison people, poisoning rich people who don't believe in structural problems means you'll get away with it). One of my friends here in Livingston, who worked for decades with Doug Peacock on environmental issues, cut his teeth mapping the plume of PCBs that runs from Great Lakes all the way down to Indiana.
PCBs, yes. We have those from the Naval base in Everett and in the Duwamish and Elliott Bay from the WWI Boeing plant. And here on the Island, some from the Navy's Area 6 landfill.
This made me search for what is my current State doing on this. I found a strategy website for it and saw test results for our area.
https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/minnesotas-pfas-blueprint
Minnesota is home to 3M, one of the major manufacturers of PFAS, so was on this early. However, as in Washington, it appears that drinking water monitoring is not covering everyone. More on this in the next post.
Thank you so much for covering this issue in such depth, detail, and with local focus, John. We need more reporting like this, and more attention to what’s going on in all of our backyards, with (or without) our tax dollars.
Thanks Nia,
I was on a Discord chat this morning with a group of science writers and the subject of journalistic ethics and responsibilities came up. Part of that is the expectation that journalists adopt a neutral impartial stance, with the subtle suggestion that that's the "right way" to cover a story. Well, clearly, that's not what I'm doing. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here, just stepping in to tell a story that no one else is covering, and hoping I don't screw up!
I hear similar positive comments from state agency staff. I guess I'll keep going.
What's the PFAS involvement in firefighting foam for wildfires? I mean, they've dumped that pink stuff across huge swathes of the landscape at this point.
Not much, if any. PFAS is used on fuel fires as it has the ability to spread out and form a film which cuts off oxygen and is indestructible enough to handle the conditions. It wouldn't help in a wildfire. What's used on those is fire retardant, a whole 'nother can of worms.
That's what I wasn't clear on ... thanks for this work.
Thanks for reading and commenting!