Air Force: Tucson PFAS cleanup 'entirely independent' of golf proposal

"Davis-Monthan’s PFAS remediation efforts are entirely independent of the unsolicited proposal from Warbird National," an Air Force spokesperson said in an email to the Star. Warbird National is the nonprofit group that is proposing to build what it calls a championship golf course on 500 acres at Davis-Monthan. 

The Air Force's statement said it had just publicly released, on Friday, a request for proposals to lease about 500 acres on the base "for a variety of uses." The Air Force hasn't endorsed or allocated any of its land or infrastructure for the Warbird proposal, the statement said.

"While Warbird National has provided an unsolicited proposal to Davis-Monthan, any commitment from the Department of the Air Force regarding land would go through the standard (Air Force) Enhanced Use Lease process," the Air Force spokesperson said.

The statement was referring to a process by which the Air Force creates a partnership between itself and public or private developers to create "mutually beneficial commercial projects" on Air Force real estate.

The Air Force statement came three days after Tucson City Manager Tim Thomure told the Star that the Air Force won't pay for a cleanup of PFAS contamination in Tucson groundwater, at least not anytime soon.

A week earlier, at a private water roundtable run by Thomure and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, several people who attended said they came away understanding that the cleanup and golf course proposal were linked. But Thomure said if the cleanup is to start soon — and he said it could start in 18 to 24 months — Warbird would have to get the money on its own.

Jay Hedley, the chairman of Warbird's governing board, said Monday he's not concerned about the Air force's new statement, and doesn't interpret it as a sign it's trying to distance itself from the group's proposal.

Heldey noted that the Star had first asked questions of the public affairs office for the Air Force's 355th Wing, which operates out of Davis-Monthan. That office doesn't normally handle PFAS issues or massive Defense Department land lease operations, he said. 

"Those are both headquarters-level matters," said Henley, referring to Air Force headquarters at the Pentagon in northern Virginia near Washington, D.C.

Also, he said, a public affairs spokesperson at the Pentagon is not involved with the Air Force Civil Engineering Center, which executes real estate and PFAS remediation efforts worldwide.

Hedley also said the Air Force spokesperson "has to seem indifferent." 

The nonprofit group "of course" will be responding to the Air Force's request for proposals, Hedley said.

"It shows the Department of the Air Force is serious about making the land available and soon we will have more certainty," he said of the request.

Warbird has made an elaborate, expansive proposal to the city. Its 18-hole course would come complete with retired Air Force jets at every hole's tee. The course would be designed by renowned golf course architect Rees Jones. The Warbird project would also include an educational center, restaurants and other facilities.

Hedley has said that if the Air Force won't finance the PFAS cleanup, Warbird will raise the money from federal or private sources.

The Tucson City Council was scheduled Tuesday afternoon to consider a memorandum of understanding between the city and Warbird that would establish a framework for negotiations between the two parties — and the Air Force — to get the golf course approved and the cleanup started.

Monday's Air Force statement came in response to questions from the Star about its position on Warbird's proposal.

Warbird has offered to make all possible efforts to seek federal and private funding for the expensive cleanup that would be required for the PFAS contamination underlying Davis-Monthan, if the city will support the group's proposed golf course and allow some of the groundwater from the base, once cleaned up, to be used on the golf course.

Besides not endorsing the Warbird proposal, the Air Force also didn't respond to another question from the Star about whether statements from City of Tucson officials that the Air Force considers the Davis-Monthan contamination a low priority for federal cleanup funding are accurate. City officials have said the Air Force has put the Davis-Monthan cleanup low on its priority list, nationally, because unlike many other cities with PFAS groundwater contamination,  Tucson Water stopped serving the contaminated water to customers long ago.

The Air Force's new statement said the Air Force "has been actively addressing PFAS investigation and cleanup since 2014" under federal procedures mandated by the 1980 Superfund toxic waste cleanup law.

"This critical environmental work remains a priority and will continue regardless of any future land-use developments," the statement said.

Many Tucson officials and community activists would take issue with that statement. They've been prodding the Air Force to start building facilities to pump out and treat the contaminated water under the base for years now. In December 2024, the city of Tucson sued the Air Force, saying it had failed to adequately address PFAS contamination at the base. The lawsuit claimed the PFAS pollution was contaminating the city's water supply.

In response, the Air Force has said it first needs to finish work on a detailed feasibility study and remedial investigation for the base's groundwater.

Until the city's statements this past week, however, there had been no public statement that the Air Force had put a Davis-Monthan cleanup on a lower priority than other contaminated sites around the U.S.

As for the Warbird National proposal, the Air Force's new statement said any future lease of underutilized federal property must comply with strict federal real property guidelines, requiring an open, competitive bidding process and comprehensive environmental reviews.

"The installation has not authorized, endorsed, or allocated any land or water infrastructure for this potential private venture," the statement said.