ANSBACH, Germany —
The Decision Document for the remediation of PFAS contamination at Katterbach Army Airfield was signed Aug. 27.
Next, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will contract for the design of the hydraulic containment remediation project, and then contract construction. Funding for the design has already been approved.
In 2014, the City of Ansbach asked the U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach to test the soil at the former firefighting training areas on Katterbach Army Airfield. USAG Ansbach completed the initial Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) in December 2019 for two former firefighting training pits, which were determined to exceed Bavarian State Evaluation Criteria for PFAS.
USAG Ansbach used one firefighting training pit from approximately 1986 until 2000 and conducted a limited number of training events with PFAS-containing foams. The Garrison has not used the second firefighting training pit for at least 30 years, and little is known about the type of training that was conducted there.
PFAS is most commonly found in the U.S. Army in aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, used at airstrips. DOD stopped land-based use of AFFF in training, testing and maintenance through a department-wide policy issued in January 2016.
U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach is fully committed to its partnership with the city of Ansbach. To ensure transparency throughout the process, U.S. Garrison Ansbach will keep the city and the county of Ansbach up to date and forward information as soon as it is available.