Residing in the City of North Charleston, South Carolina, this military base was active between 1942 and 2009 when it was merged to become part of Joint Base Charleston. However, it was only in 1953 that the installation was named Charleston Air Force Base. The military base covers approximately 3,400 acres of land. In 1941, before our country entered World War II, the War Department provided $199,000 to the Charleston Airport for the construction of runway extension and other improvements necessary for aircraft dispersal against attack. Like numerous other military bases across the nation, Charleston Air Force Base was heavily contaminated with PFAS, a group of toxic chemicals.
Due to the unimaginable extent of environmental contamination with PFAS, Charleston Air Force Base ranks 10th on the top 100 list of the most polluted military bases in the country compiled by the Environmental Working Group. There is a PFAS concentration of 1,150,000 parts per trillion on the site, whereas the safe limit is 70 parts per trillion. Therefore, the problem of contamination is extremely acute. Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is striving to remove PFAS from Charleston Air Force Base, which is currently a Superfund site.
Charleston Air Force Base is one of the 4 military bases in South Carolina that have a severe PFAS contamination issue. The source of PFAS is aqueous film-forming foam, also referred to as AFFF, a fire suppressant employed to extinguish jet fuel and petroleum fires by military firefighters and trainees. Interestingly, AFFF was designed by the U.S. Navy and the 3M company in 1966 and has since been used by both civilian and military firefighters for class B fires.
Unfortunately, PFAS are also referred to as "forever chemicals", which means that once they are released into the environment, they persist, as they cannot break down. This makes the cleanup endeavors of the Environmental Protection Agency very challenging. While PFAS are the only toxic agent on Charleston Air Force Base, these dangerous chemicals were enough to endanger the health of members of the military and families stationed there.
There are multiple health problems exposure to PFAS can lead to, particularly if it was prolonged or frequent. Nevertheless, the most serious is cancer, which can develop in various organs and tissues in the body. The following are the diseases PFAS exposure can cause, as well as the diagnoses that make you eligible to file a PFAS claim if you were stationed at Charleston Air Force Base:
We strongly encourage everyone whose health was affected by PFAS exposure on military bases to contact us, as we specialize in toxic exposure cases and will be able to help you get the money you deserve for your distress.
Our legal team has vast experience in toxic exposure cases, as we have been handling this type of claim for over 35 years. If you spent time on Charleston Air Force Base and received a diagnosis associated with PFAS exposure, you may be eligible for compensation.
Following a thorough evaluation of your situation in a 10-minute phone call, if you meet the eligibility criteria, an experienced attorney will begin preparing your PFAS claim for submission. With our assistance, you will eventually obtain the largest sum of money you are eligible for.
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