Vermont military assaults Vermont civilians

Vermont Army National Guard contaminates water supply with PFAS while Vermont Air National Guard abuses children with the 115-decibel F-35

Poisoning Civilians

Last month, the Vermont Army National Guard allowed 150 gallons of cancer-causing PFAS foam to flow down the drain at its helicopter facility at the Burlington International Airport (BTV). According to VTDigger “PFAS cannot be removed from water using conventional wastewater treatment processes.” So the city’s waste-water-treatment facility released the PFAS foam into the Winooski river, which flows into Lake Champlain, the source of the region’s drinking water.

Regularly ingesting water contaminated with as little as a few parts per trillion of PFAS is sufficient to cause an increased risk of terrible diseases. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports epidemiological evidence showing that PFAS causes an increase in kidney and testicular cancers, hypertension and preeclampsia for pregnant women, changes in liver enzymes, and increased cholesterol levels. The CDC also reports animal studies showing damage to the liver and the immune system, low birth weight, birth defects, delayed development, and newborn deaths from PFAS.

According to the VTDigger article, the Vermont Army National Guard spilled 800 gallons of the PFAS foam as a result of a mechanical failure. While 650 of those gallons remained for on-site cleanup, 150 gallons went down the drain. No commander explained why that drain was connected to the ordinary waste-water plumbing instead of to a dedicated container for such a highly dangerous chemical. A matter of criminal negligence.

Abusing Children

The Vermont Air National Guard daily blasts 6,663 Vermonters with ear- and brain-damaging 115-decibel F-35 jets. Those are the Vermont families living in the 5 miles long by 2 miles wide oval-shaped noise contour around the Burlington airport that extends from the center of the City of Winooski, through densely populated neighborhoods in the Cities of Burlington and South Burlington, and deep into the Town of Williston.

Years of deliberation preceded the choice of BTV for basing those 20 F-35 jets. That deliberation included the production of a thousand-page US Air Force Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). BTV was the only one among the 6 locations compared in the EIS that used a runway in a city location and the only one where thousands of civilians would be harmed by the F-35 noise.

By choosing BTV, civilian and military leaders made a deliberate, knowing and intentional choice to harm the ears and brains of thousands of Vermont civilians, including 1,300 children. See the NY Times article, “Noise can take years off your life. Here's how." By choosing the city location, commanders and state officials violated the military’s own discipline and US and Vermont laws, as shown in the complaint to the Inspector General signed by 657 Vermonters.  

Furthermore, the EIS identified the populations living in that oval-shaped noise zone surrounding BTV as disproportionately low income and minority.

Burlington has the power to put a stop to the abuse

Fortunately, Burlington owns the airport. The city’s new Mayor, Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, established a team of community safety advisors on May 28, and said, “improving Community Safety is a top priority for my administration.”

Also fortunately, the FAA encourages all municipal airport owners to set conditions for the safe operation of their airport, so long as the conditions apply to all aircraft owners without discrimination. Will Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak use that city-authority to put a stop to the F-35 child-abuse? And put a stop to the PFAS-foam poisoning?