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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Chemical pollution · United States · 2022–2025

US Defense Department PFAS costs top USD 9.3 billion at 718 installations

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The US Government Accountability Office reported that Defense Department PFAS costs reached USD 9.3 billion or more and tripled since 2022. None of the 718 installations is yet in long-term cleanup, while the Department promotes its land as a refuge for wildlife.

What?
The US Government Accountability Office reported PFAS costs of USD 9.3 billion or more across 718 Defense Department installations, none yet in long-term cleanup. US Government Accountability Office
Where?
United States, at Defense Department installations (718 sites) US Government Accountability Office
When?
GAO report published in February 2025; costs have tripled since 2022. US Government Accountability Office
Who?
Gained
  • US Department of Defense — Presents military land as a refuge for wildlife
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The cleanup is funded from the US budget, and none of the installations is in long-term cleanup as of the GAO report. US Government Accountability Office
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The US Government Accountability Office reported in February 2025 that Defense Department PFAS costs were USD 9.3 billion or more, having tripled since 2022.

The same report found that none of the Department's 718 installations is in long-term cleanup.

The Defense Department and NatureServe have described military training land as a refuge for biodiversity, while the same land also holds PFAS, munitions and closed waste sites.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the remaining cost of the Defense Department's environmental restoration program, about USD 48.7 billion as of 30 September 2024 (of which about USD 16.1 billion for munitions); the DENIX PDF could not be checked.
    • None on record The claim that endangered-species density on military land is three times higher is a Defense Department claim; the sources reviewed do not give an independent figure.
    • None on record Exposure and health effects for people living near the 718 installations are not described in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. GAO-25-107401
      US Government Accountability Office · 2025-02

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    PFOA (C8) and PFAS
    PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.
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