Water likely tainted by ‘forever chemicals’ flowed off Air Force base in Tokyo

Read the full article by Seth Robson and Hana Kusumoto (Stars and Stripes)

“YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Local authorities in cities surrounding this base in western Tokyo were not told for more than a month that thousands of gallons of water, likely tainted with toxic chemicals, spilled off the installation this summer.

A short burst of heavy rains on Aug. 30 caused approximately 12,640 gallons of water to overflow from Yokota’s fire training area onto an asphalt surface and eventually into a stormwater drainage system, according to an email Thursday from Capt. Emma Quirk, spokeswoman for Yokota’s 374th Airlift Wing.

The water probably contained residual amounts of aqueous film forming foam, she said. The foam is a firefighting material that contains PFAS, a class of chemicals with suspected toxic properties.”