Fort McCoy

Fort McCoy is a United States Army training installation located in Monroe County, Wisconsin, between the cities of Sparta and Tomah on roughly 60,000 acres. The post traces its origins to 1909, when the land was first used as the Sparta Maneuver Tract, and it was officially named Camp McCoy in 1926 in honor of Major General Robert B. McCoy. It served as a mobilization and training center during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, and it was re-designated as Fort McCoy on September 30, 1974. Today it operates as a Total Force Training Center, supporting Army Reserve, National Guard, and active duty units, with more than 100,000 service members training there each year.

As with many installations that conducted firefighting and fire-training activities, Fort McCoy has been associated with concerns about potential exposure to certain industrial chemicals. Decades of fire-training operations at burn pits on the post involved foam concentrates that have since been linked to widespread groundwater contamination, prompting investigation by the Army and the State of Wisconsin.

1. AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam): AFFF is a firefighting foam that was used at Fort McCoy fire-training burn pits, in at least one case dating to before 1982, to extinguish fuel fires during training. Because the foam contained fluorinated compounds that do not readily break down, its repeated use has been associated with persistent contamination of soil and groundwater, raising concerns about potential long-term exposure.
2. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances): PFAS are a large family of man-made chemicals that were a primary ingredient in the AFFF used at the installation. Monitoring near the burn pits reported PFAS concentrations as high as approximately 120,000 ng/L (120 ug/L), among the highest detected at any Wisconsin military site. PFAS have been associated in some research with a range of health concerns, and questions remain about the effects of prolonged exposure.
3. PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate): PFOS is one of the specific PFAS compounds historically found in AFFF formulations and was detected at very high levels in groundwater at the Fort McCoy burn-pit areas. PFOS has been studied for its tendency to persist in the body over time, and concerns about potential exposure have contributed to fish-consumption advisories issued for nearby waters.
4. PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid): PFOA is another individual PFAS compound reported alongside PFOS in groundwater at the installation. Like other PFAS, PFOA breaks down very slowly in the environment, and it has been the subject of ongoing study regarding its possible association with various health effects.

The Army is investigating and addressing PFAS at Fort McCoy under its environmental restoration program, following the federal CERCLA process, a multi-phase, science-based approach that can take years to complete. A Final Preliminary Assessment and Site Inspection for PFAS was completed in December 2020, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has directed work at the burn pits and issued fish-consumption advisories for nearby waters such as Angelo Pond and Silver Creek. Fort McCoy is not listed on the National Priorities List (Superfund), and the Army and the state continue to monitor conditions on and around the post.

Veterans, family members, and others who lived or worked at Fort McCoy and have questions about possible exposure are encouraged to stay informed as investigation and cleanup efforts continue. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can provide current information about health resources, screenings, and any benefits for which individuals may be eligible, and consulting the VA directly is the best way to learn about options specific to your circumstances.