There is a particular kind of betrayal in learning that the institution responsible for protecting your country has been contaminating the water you drink.
The Naval Submarine Base New London sits in Groton, Connecticut, on the west bank of the Thames River. It has been there since 1868. It's the home port of the Atlantic submarine fleet, one of the most strategically important military installations in the country. People in Groton and New London have built their lives around it: working on the base, supporting sailors' families, running the businesses that serve a military town.
For decades, the base used AFFF, or aqueous film-forming foam, to fight and train against fires involving jet fuel and other flammable liquids. AFFF works extremely well on fuel fires. It also lasts almost forever in the environment. The per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in it, mainly PFOS and PFOA, do not break down. They move through soil into groundwater, and they stay.
The Naval Submarine Base New London is listed as an EPA Superfund site. The contamination is not a theory or a suspicion. It's a documented, federally recognized cleanup site.
What Did the Navy Find When It Tested for PFAS?
In 2019, the Navy announced it would test private drinking water wells around the Groton base for PFAS. That came after the Department of Defense released a nationwide assessment of PFAS at military installations. It identified more than 700 sites across the country where firefighting foam had contaminated, or possibly contaminated, drinking water.
The Navy's fact sheet from that investigation stated plainly: "This private drinking water well investigation will allow us to identify and address any current exposure to PFOA and/or PFOS above EPA's lifetime health advisories."
The investigation is ongoing. What's known is that PFAS traceable to AFFF has been detected in the area. Connecticut's Attorney General specifically cited contamination at the Mystic Oral School for the Deaf in Groton in the January 2024 lawsuit against 28 chemical manufacturers.
The Mystic Oral School is a school for deaf children. It is located less than two miles from the submarine base.
The Broader Pattern
Groton and New London are not unique. The same pattern repeats at bases across the country: Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, dozens more in between. The military used AFFF for decades because it worked. The bill for that choice is now coming due in the water supplies of the towns next door.
Connecticut has four confirmed military PFAS contamination sites. The Groton base is the most prominent, but it is not the only one. A similar pattern has played out in Killingworth, where the town's own fire department contaminated the water supply.
What Should Groton and New London Homeowners Do About PFAS?
If you own a home with a private well within a few miles of the Naval Submarine Base, test your water for PFAS. This isn't a precaution in the abstract. It's a response to a documented contamination source in your area.
Want ZIP-level context before deciding whether to test? Enter your ZIP code at CheckYourTap.com to see available public-system or regional monitoring records associated with the ZIP. This is not a test of a tap, well, or property. Free, in 30 seconds.
Prefer to start local? See what's been detected in Groton's water, including PFAS and the other contaminants tracked there.
The EPA's new PFAS maximum contaminant levels, finalized in 2024, set limits for six PFAS compounds at levels ranging from 4 to 10 parts per trillion. PFAS is associated with kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, immune disruption, and reproductive problems.
If your well water contains PFAS above these levels, the treatment options are well-established: according to the NSF International, reverse osmosis filtration certified to NSF/ANSI 58 removes PFAS effectively. Activated carbon filters can also reduce PFAS, though their effectiveness varies by the specific compounds present and the filter design.
The Navy has a responsibility to address the contamination it caused. That process will take years. Your well is running today.
The Deeper Question
There is a question that the official investigation process doesn't fully address: what about the people who have been drinking this water for the past twenty years, before anyone was testing for PFAS?
PFAS accumulates in the body, and it doesn't clear quickly. The health effects linked to PFAS exposure, as documented by the ATSDR, include thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, immune disruption. These take years to surface, and they're hard to pin on any one cause. Someone who has been drinking PFAS-contaminated well water since 2005 may have symptoms today that neither they nor their doctor has ever connected to the tap.
This is the part of the PFAS story that gets the least attention. The contamination is being addressed, slowly. The exposure that already happened is not being addressed at all.
Keep Reading
- Fairfield County PFAS: Legal Is Not the Same as Safe
- Your Connecticut Water Bill Is Going Up Because of PFAS. Here's What You're Actually Paying For.
- The Connection Between Your Water, Your Thyroid, and Your Hair That Nobody Is Making
Sources: NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, Naval Submarine Base New London PFAS Fact Sheet, 2019; EPA Superfund Site Profile, New London Submarine Base; CT Attorney General William Tong, PFAS Lawsuit Press Release, January 25, 2024; Department of Defense PFAS Site Assessment, 2019.
