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Wing participates in Horsham community town hall meeting

Capt. James Kash, left, deputy base engineer civil engineer with the 111th Attack Wing, Greg Wills, with the National Guard Bureau A7 and Lt. Col. Jacqueline Siciliano, Horsham Air Guard Station’s environmental manager were on hand to greet and speak with area residents during a town hall meeting held at the Horsham Community Center on Oct. 7, 2014.

Capt. James Kash, left, deputy base engineer civil engineer with the 111th Attack Wing, Greg Wills, with the National Guard Bureau A7 and Lt. Col. Jacqueline Siciliano, Horsham Air Guard Station’s environmental manager were on hand to greet and speak with area residents during a town hall meeting held at the Horsham Community Center on Oct. 7, 2014.

HORSHAM, Pa - -- Wing members joined with local, state and federal agencies at the Horsham Community Center yesterday to assist area residents with any questions or concerns they may have regarding the recently discovered, unregulated contaminant to the immediate area water supply.

"The forum and open discussion was an excellent way to distribute information," said Lt. Col. Jacqueline Siciliano, Horsham Air Guard Station's environmental manager. "People were able to go direct to and speak one-on-one with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, local water authority and Navy Base Closure and Realignment Commission."

An estimated 250 people from around the area attended the 3-hour event showcasing facts about the contaminants, previously remediated environmental issues and other ongoing projects.
 
"We're being proactive," said Siciliano. "Testing of area wells and on-base monitoring wells continues for the PFOS/PFOA [Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and Perfluorooctanoic acid] contaminants so we can have the best information available. We [Horsham Air Guard Station personnel] are not only a part of the community, but a partner."

The contaminants that were discovered were over the health advisory limits, but are not required to be tested under the Safe Drinking Water Act [42 U.S.C. §300f et seq. (1974)].

For more information on the meeting, go to http://www.111fw.ang.af.mil and see the Willow Grove handouts PDF file.