Read the full article by Ismail Turay Jr. (Dayton Daily News)
“Dayton exhausted all possibilities to avoid suing Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Department of Defense, city leaders said, including taking out millions of dollars in loans to closely monitor so-called ‘forever chemicals’ and prevent them from tainting its drinking water supply.
But the base consistently violated several environmental laws, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, said Mike Powell, the city’s Department of Water director.
The Air Force also ignored the city’s offers to work together, as well as calls from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to implement short-term solutions until it comes up with a long-term plan to prevent a group of chemicals known as PFAS from getting into some of the city’s drinking water wells, city and state officials said.
Wright-Patt and DoD officials denied the city’s allegations, saying they’re following federal guidelines and taking an aggressive approach to ensure contaminants migrating from the base remain below the federal recommended guidelines. By the city’s own admission, the base said, Dayton’s water is safe to drink.
The Dayton Daily News Path Forward project digs into solutions to the biggest issues facing our community, including the safety and sustainability of our drinking water. In an exclusive interview, Powell and one of the city’s lawyers provided in-depth explanations about why city leaders say they felt obligated to file the lawsuit last month and efforts they’ve made to minimize the amount of PFAS in the drinking water.
Dayton’s lawsuit seeks damages that range from $10 million to as much as $300 million, based on whether the DoD and Wright-Patt implement various treatment options to stop the alleged ongoing contamination, according to the lawsuit…”