The South Carolina National Guard is a community-based organization that remains committed to the health and safety of our men and women in uniform, their Families, and the communities in which we live and serve. This is why it is important to the South Carolina National Guard to take the necessary steps to identify any contamination in the groundwater in proximity to our facilities and coordinate with higher authorities to develop steps to lower the risk of contamination and conduct cleanup activities as directed by the Department of Defense.

To date, the South Carolina National Guard has conducted tests of the groundwater outside multiple facilities in 2018 and 2019 that are owned or operated by the organization. The South Carolina National Guard environmental office is currently coordinating with the National Guard Bureau PFOS/PFOA management office for a plan of remediation in response to the test results identifying the PFAS levels, which includes steps to limit the use of the product, and phase it out to be replaced with an approved qualified product, based on guidance from appropriate authorities.
 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a massive group of thousands of different human-made chemicals used since the 1940s to make everyday products resist heat, stains, grease, and water  . They are the parent family of chemicals that includes PFOS and PFOA  .

The defining feature of PFAS is their carbon-fluorine bonds—some of the strongest chemical bonds in nature  . Because of these bonds, these chemicals do not break down easily in the environment or the human body, earning them the nickname "forever chemicals". They can be found in everything from non-stick cookware and waterproof jackets to food packaging and firefighting foam, and they have increasingly migrated into global water supplies and soil .

PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) are two of the most widely known "forever chemicals"—a class of human-made substances used since the 1940s to make everyday products resist heat, water, grease, and stains (such as non-stick pans, waterproof clothing, and firefighting foams). They are called "forever chemicals" because their incredibly strong chemical bonds do not break down naturally, causing them to build up over time in our environment, water supplies, and bodies. Because even tiny amounts of PFOS and PFOA have been linked to potential health concerns like cancer, liver damage, and developmental issues, their use has been largely phased out in the United States, and environmental agencies are actively working to filter them out of drinking water.