PFAS Contamination in Fairbanks’ Water
By Katie Everett
Most people who have visited Fairbanks have been warned not to drink the tap water. While the tap water is mostly safe to drink, it has been proven to contain forever chemicals known as PFAS. PFAS stands for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are a group of chemicals used in a variety of consumer products as well as industrial products, like firefighting foams and oils. After Trump took office in 2024, he rolled back any laws regulating water safety that the EPA had implemented under the Biden administration.
Alaska Community Action on Toxics or ACAT, has been working on water contamination and air quality issues for years.
Recently, ACAT traveled up to Fairbanks to show a film which illustrated the corruption of the chemical industry. The Sun Star interviewed Pamela Miller, ACAT’s executive director..
“Alaska Community Action on Toxics is a non-profit environmental health and justice research and advocacy organization,” Miller explained.
ACAT works across the state to do research and educate communities about water toxicity and air quality. ACAT is involved in participatory research in different communities around the state, and their longest project is based on St. Lawrence Island, looking at the effects of the military presence there on humans and the environment. ACAT also provides water test kits for communities that want to do their own tests, because the state does not regularly test water quality.
Miller explained that the film they were showing in Fairbanks was called “How to Poison a Planet,” and it dives into the corruption and deception of the chemical industry. The chemicals highlighted in the film are the PFAS chemicals that are used in a range of different everyday products.
“Here in Alaska, the dispersive use of PFAS in firefighting foams has contaminated drinking water throughout the state,” said Miller.
In fact, Miller said that there are about 600 sites in Alaska that have been contaminated due to the use of PFAS.
Miller explained that the goal of their film is to educate members of the community about these chemicals, and what they can do about it.
ACAT has been working to get legislation passed that establishes drinking water standards that protect the health of the community and the environment.
In the Fairbanks area the biggest contaminants are the military bases, Eielson and Fort Wainright, the Sulphur Lane Refinery, the Fairbanks International Airport, and the firefighter training center downtown. Under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency passed laws regulating water quality, but when Trump took office in 2024, he rolled these laws back.
Now, there are no federal drinking water regulations, and ACAT is working towards getting these laws put back in place, for the health and safety of everyone. The belief of ACAT is that everyone deserves safe drinking water.
“It’s a fundamental human right,” said Miller.
To help their cause, ACAT provides water testing kits for communities across the state so that people can be aware of what they are drinking. To run the test, it simply involves filling a small container with tap water, letting it run through a filter to catch any microplastics, drain the water, and send the container with the remaining plastics to ACAT for them to test. The tests typically take about two weeks to be completed.
Alaska Community Action on Toxics has helped make changes across the state in drinking water standards, and they are continuing to work towards passing legislation that creates federal water safety standards. For those who want to become involved, the free water testing kits are a good step in the right direction to help educate communities about what they are drinking.