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Comment by woeirua | Hacker News Reader

I'm not nearly as worried about fracking when it comes to PFAS/PFOAs as I am about airports. It is well documented, that airports (especially military ones) have used PFAS/PFOAs as firefighting agents for years and years. If you live near an airport, you should not be drinking groundwater. If you absolutely must, then get it tested!

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Indeed: US Air Force Base Poisoning Drinking Water Of Half a Million Japanese

https://theglobepost.com/2020/10/15/us-military-base-poisoni...

Yea, this has happened in Sweden and affecting god knows how many adults, children or newborns over many years due to a PFAS poisoned water supply.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202...

Same thing in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. Never buy a home down there due to toxins and also if you find a problem you have to fix it, including your neighbors land.

That neighbor fixing might only be if the problem originated from your land, such as a leaking underground oil tank, but it will still be tens of thousands of dollars to clean up.

Large swathes of Silicon Valley in Mountain View are super fund sites because of the degreasers and firefighting chemicals they used at Moffett field. The chemicals went into the ground water and spread throughout the entire area from 101 to past Central Expressway.

According to the map, Moffett field seems to be right at the coast. I've never been to that area. Is there no slope towards the coastal area of Moffett field?

Edit: thinking about it, the bay is subject to tides which probably affects the ground water as well. This would regularly press ground water from the coast inland and back again.

I would doubt the groundwater contamination at Moffett Field would migrate inland. Groundwater in Mountain View moves in the direction of the bay.

The groundwater contamination in Mountain View proper comes from the many companies that manufactured semiconductors and other electronics in the '50s through the '80s. Many of which did a poor job disposing of the chemicals they used in electronics manufacturing.

And often had leaking underground tanks.

If you walk the trails around Stanford, both College Terrace and the Dish, you’ll see sampling tubes for monitoring soil quality because of this.

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