PRINTER'S NO. 3468
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
916
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY STEPHENS, O'NEILL AND WATSON, JUNE 8, 2016
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 8, 2016
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of
Defense to take all necessary action to ensure that the
residents of Horsham, Warminster and Warrington Townships in
Montgomery and Bucks Counties have safe drinking water, to
discover the extent of the contamination, provide complete
remediation, fully evaluate the health consequences and to
provide ongoing biomonitoring to residents and military
personnel who have been exposed to the water contamination
from compounds previously used at the former Willow Grove
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base.
WHEREAS, The United States military used foam containing
perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA), unregulated contaminants, in firefighting training at
two former bases, Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve
Base in Horsham Township, Montgomery County, and Naval Air
Warfare Center in Warminster Township, Bucks County; and
WHEREAS, The chemicals are now appearing in elevated levels
in public and private water wells; and
WHEREAS, PFOS and PFOA are "extremely persistent in the
environment and resistant to typical environmental degradation
processes," according to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). The EPA also states: "The toxicity, mobility and
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bioaccumulation potential of PFOS and PFOA pose potential
adverse effects for the environment and human health"; and
WHEREAS, A growing body of science has established
associations between PFOS and PFOA and a range of health
effects, including a variety of cancers; and
WHEREAS, The chemicals were first discovered in local public
water supplies near the former military bases by an EPA testing
program in 2013 and 2014, resulting in several public water
wells being taken offline; and
WHEREAS, On Thursday, May 19, 2016, the EPA issued an update
to its health advisory for PFOS and PFOA that significantly
reduces the amount considered safe in drinking water. In the
worst possible case, water containing the chemicals at an amount
previously deemed safe would now be more than eight times over
the recommended limits; and
WHEREAS, The new recommended levels have resulted in
officials from the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority, Warminster
Municipal Authority and Warrington Township Water and Sewer
Department shutting down contaminated public drinking water
wells, including 16 municipal wells in Horsham, Warrington and
Warminster Townships and nearly 150 private wells; and
WHEREAS, The House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania acknowledges the efforts thus far, although more
needs to be done to fully address this situation; therefore be
it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President and the Congress
of the United States and the Environmental Protection Agency to
expeditiously determine if a Federal drinking water standard
should be issued for PFOSs and PFOAs that can be enforced in the
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same manner as lead and arsenic; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Department of Defense to take all necessary
action to ensure that the residents of Horsham, Warminster and
Warrington Townships in Montgomery and Bucks Counties have safe
drinking water and to discover the extent of the contamination,
provide complete remediation, fully evaluate the health
consequences and provide ongoing biomonitoring to residents and
military personnel who have been exposed to the water
contamination from compounds previously used at the former
Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of
each house of Congress, to each member of Congress from
Pennsylvania, to the Environmental Protection Agency and to the
Department of Defense.
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