Delegation members urge DOD to act on Tucson contamination

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TUCSON, Arizona (AP) – Members of the Arizona Congressional Delegation call on the Department of Defense to give priority to clearing up underground contamination associated with two military facilities in Tucson.

In a letter from Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly and the Reps. Raul Grijalva, Tom O’Halleran and Ann Kirkpatrick to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are led by clouds of chemicals emanating from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the Air National Guard installation at Tucson International Airport.

Tucson on Tuesday announced plans to discontinue a water treatment plan that draws from wells in the airport area.

The delegation’s letter noted that the closure means Tucson will be more reliant on the Colorado River water carried by the Central Arizona Project’s aqueduct system and groundwater pumped from wells that stretch out away from the contamination flags.

The letter urged Austin to take steps to complete the contamination investigations and make the remediation efforts a high priority.

Grijalva said he would work to secure funding quickly.

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The spelling of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s first name has been corrected in this story and its summary.

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