In Reaction to Press Reports and Public Pressure Holloman Lake Closed to Public Access

The base commander at Holloman Air Force Base has closed Holloman Lake. News headlines of world record levels of contamination of PFAS such as those being found at Holloman Lake in most communities would spark a panic and a huge political outcry for fear of those contaminants leeching into the local community water supply

In Alamogordo and most especially via Otero county government which operates the department of public health, the reaction has been crickets. After reporting by AlamogordoTownNews.org and sister news outlets around the state the base commander took action.

The area is often called Holloman Lake by the public and local government, but its official name is the Holloman Evaporation Pond.

The closure is being done to “protect the public from potential exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS),” Holloman said in its release.

This area receives processed wastewater from the wastewater treatment facility at Holloman and was not originally obtained by the Air Force for recreational use, the base said in a press release this week.

The area was transferred to the Air Force from the Department of the Interior in 1995 to construct a new wastewater treatment facility for the base, Holloman said.

The transfer required public access continue to the area, but that can be changed if there is risk to public health or safety, Holloman said.

After recent studies at the lake and new designations by the U.S. Environvironment Protection Agency about the class of chemicals known as PFAS, “the decision was made to temporarily close public access to mitigate the potential risks to human health posed by PFAS,” the base said.

The area that was found to contain PFAS chemcials in the soil and water was at least partly linked to chemicals used in firefighting operations and training programs on base, Holloman said.

A team of researchers from The University of New Mexico’s Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB)  shared new research on the contamination at Holloman Lake in southern New Mexico. The team began studying PFAS contamination of wildlife at Holloman Lake in 2021.

In an article published in 2024, the team reported world-record concentrations of PFAS in birds and mammals at the lake. The article showed that contamination spanned a period of at least 30 years and was connected to the use of PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) used by military installations. The new article, "Ecosystem-wide PFAS characterization and environmental behavior at a heavily contaminated desert oasis in the southwestern U.S.," published in the journal Environmental Research, confirms previous findings and analyzes all the factors contributing to the unprecedented levels of contamination at Holloman Lake.

“Holloman Lake itself – its surface water and sediments, its flora and fauna – is the known epicenter of the massive PFAS contamination we have been studying since 2021, but we do not yet know the boundaries of the affected area," said Research Professor Jean-Luc Cartron, UNM Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology and lead author of the new report. "Much of the playa environment downstream of Holloman could be contaminated, and, even more important, the movements of animals and animal populations around the landscape are essential factors to consider. Contaminated animals may travel far from Holloman and contaminate other ecosystems or pose a risk to hunters.”

“Holloman AFB has already taken steps to address PFAS in response to evolving science. Understanding that there was a presence of PFAS, Holloman AFB ended its hunting program in 2019 and signs prohibiting hunting were installed. In addition, all recreational activities involving the water in the HEP (Holloman Evaporative Pond) have also been prohibited,” Holloman said.

Drinking water sources at Holloman, Alamogordo and surrounding areas have not been affected by PFAS at the base or the lake, the base said.

Both the base and Alamogordo get their drinking water located between 12 and 35 miles southeast of the base and is in the opposite direction that water naturally flows from the area, the base said.

Local wells continue to be tested and are PFAS free, the base said in its press release. Water quality in Alamogordo has been questioned by its residents for years but state and federal authorities claim the drinking water is safe and reliable. 

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