On October 24, 2025, ABC News published an article reporting on the disturbing results of a health assessment conducted by the New Mexico Departments of Environment and Health, which tested the blood of people living and working near Cannon Air Force Base for the presence and concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, or “forever chemicals”). For decades, the Air Force at Cannon released PFAS-containing firefighting foam into the environment, which then spread off-base through groundwater. The study found that 99.7% of participants had PFAS in their blood, and that people living or working within the PFAS groundwater plume had extremely high concentrations of PFAS in their blood: “About one-quarter of them had levels reaching the highest concentration tier used in national guidelines.”
The New Mexico Environment Department’s Secretary James Kenney has called on the federal government to move ahead with a cleanup of PFAS outside the base: “We need the whole of New Mexico to stand up and say we’ve had it.” Meanwhile, the federal government has delayed PFAS cleanups around the country (and by more than six years at Cannon), as reported by the New York Times. The federal government has also sought a delay of PFAS litigation in national multi-district litigation concerning its firefighting foam, seeking a stay of claims brought by plaintiffs under CERCLA—including those of the State of New Mexico, which has an outstanding motion for partial summary judgment to establish liability. Kanner & Whiteley is co-counsel to New Mexico in the litigation and also serves as representative counsel for all plaintiffs with CERCLA claims in the MDL. Plaintiffs’ opposition to the request for a stay can be found here.