Mather Air Force Base

Mather Air Force Base was a United States Air Force installation in Sacramento County, California, located about twelve miles east of downtown Sacramento near the community of Rancho Cordova. Established in 1918 as a combat pilot training school, the base was reactivated in 1941 and went on to serve for decades as a pilot and navigator training post, becoming the Air Force's principal school for training navigators. The installation also hosted Strategic Air Command units during the Cold War. Mather was closed in 1993 under the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act, and the property has since been redeveloped, with the airfield now operating as Sacramento Mather Airport.

There are concerns about potential carcinogenic health hazards at Mather Air Force Base, due to documented exposure to environmental contaminants in soil and groundwater:

1. TCE (trichloroethylene): TCE is an industrial solvent that was widely used by the military for degreasing aircraft parts and equipment. At Mather, TCE was used from 1958 through 1974, and waste solvents and transformer oils were disposed of at the Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) disposal area between 1958 and 1966. These practices left TCE in the shallow groundwater beneath the base, and four groundwater plumes have been identified: the AC&W, Site 7, Northeast and Main Base/SAC Area plumes. TCE is classified as a human carcinogen, and exposure has been associated with kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other serious health conditions in some studies.
2. Other solvents and volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Decades of aircraft maintenance and flight operations at Mather involved fuels, oils, lubricants, protective coatings and various cleaning solvents. Environmental investigations beginning in 1982 identified dozens of sites where these materials had affected soils and groundwater. Long-term exposure to certain VOCs may potentially be linked to cancer and other adverse health effects, which is why their presence at the base has raised concerns.

Mather Air Force Base is a federal Superfund site. The AC&W disposal area was added to the EPA's National Priorities List in July 1987, and the entire base was listed in November 1989. Because surrounding communities rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water, alternate water supplies were provided to some nearby residents in 1986. A 1993 record of decision selected groundwater extraction and treatment by air stripping, and that system has operated since 1995, with treated water later discharged to Lake Mather. Contaminated soil areas have been excavated and treated, landfills were consolidated and capped in 1996, and soil vapor extraction systems have addressed residual contamination. In 2000, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry issued a public health assessment concluding that the exposure pathways it evaluated posed no apparent public health hazard, and monitoring and cleanup activities have continued under EPA and Air Force oversight.

It is important to recognize that establishing definitive links between service at Mather Air Force Base and specific health conditions is complex, and research into these potential connections is ongoing. Veterans who served at Mather and who have health concerns are encouraged to stay informed about the site's cleanup progress, discuss their service history with their healthcare providers, and contact the Department of Veterans Affairs to learn about health registries, screenings and benefits that may be available to them.