Four Towns in Bucks, Montgomery Counties Get Nearly $4 Million to Clean Up Tainted Water Supplies

What to Know

Firefighting foam used on former Willow Grove Naval Air Station and Warminster Naval Air Warfare Center has been linked to tainted water.
Tests conducted in 2016 on 65 households in Horsham found elevated levels of certain chemicals related to the foam.
Public and private wells had to be shut down because of contamination.

Four towns in Bucks and Montgomery counties are getting some state financial support to help clean up water sources following years-long issues related to a nearby decommissioned military installation.

Horsham, Warminster, Warrington and Warrick will receive portions of $3.8 million in funding from Pennsylvania to help pay for eliminating perfluroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) from their local water.

Tests conducted in 2016 on 65 households in Horsham found elevated levels of chemicals related to a firefighting foam used for years on the former Willow Grove Naval Air Station and Warminster Naval Air Warfare Center.

At that same time, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey held a hearing on the chemical substances in Washington D.C., and Philly.com had reported that federal health officials for the first time indicated support for blood testing and health monitoring of residents who may have drank contaminated water near bases like Willow Grove across the country.

Horsham also said at the time that remediation efforts would continue into 2017 to increase water quality through improved filtration systems and water purchased from North Wales.

The township has since said its water sources have been remediated through the exclusion of certain tainted public and private drinking wells from its system.