Assessing and Addressing PFAS Contamination for Community Water Safety in Santa Rosa County

Project Summary

Santa Rosa County Watershed Protection Committee, composed of volunteers, is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Floridan Sand-and-Gravel Aquifer in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties in Northwest Florida to include the improvement of all water quality through science-based testing, watershed awareness, education and community involvement.

Following five years of sampling water and soil, the community is disturbed by the results. Household taps, private wells, creeks, rivers, bays and intercoastal waterways have all been analyzed for PFAS and other contaminants, depending on their location and anthropogenic activity (i.e.,) developments, industry, wastewater treatment plants and wastewater disposal (i.e.,) spray fields and rapid infiltration basins (RIBS). Every sample collected tested positive for several species of PFAS with one exception. The community does not find these results surprising given the fact that the southern portion of Santa Rosa County is surrounded by military bases and outlying landing fields where AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) is and has been used for decades. This activity has resulted in contaminating most if not all of the southern portion of the Floridan Sand-and-Gravel Aquifer. Other contaminants such as increased levels of nitrite and nitrates (nox) were identified along with PFAS in creeks, cordgrass marshes and bayous due to either septic tanks, wastewater spray fields or RIBS.

The community believes that the local wastewater treatment plants are antiquated and incapable of handling the increased influent due to population growth, nor do they remove any of today’s exotic chemicals, personal care products, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals or PFAS. All wastewater treatment plants should be retrofitted with tertiary advanced-level treatment and new plants must be built to tertiary standards. PFAS and other contaminants are being further distributed throughout the county through wastewater disposal practices. The chemicals are not being removed, as they are being concentrated and redistributed by spray fields and RIBS.

During all sampling activity, the community leaders were in contact with experts and scientists at Pace Analytical, University of Florida, University of West Florida and Eurofin Laboratory and the University of Florida, Dr. John Bowden. They had assistance with sampling from several environmentally concerned citizens.

Project Outputs

1. Comprehensive Environmental Sampling Dataset

• Five years of coordinated sampling across Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.
• Data collected from:
  • Household taps
  • Private wells
  • Creeks, rivers, and bayous
  • Bays and intracoastal waterways
• Laboratory-confirmed detection of multiple PFAS compounds in nearly all samples.
• Additional contaminant identification, including elevated nitrates and nitrites (NOx).
• Data validated through collaboration with leading institutions, including University of Florida and University of West Florida.

2. GIS Mapping of Contamination Coordinates

• Development of a geospatial dataset mapping PFAS and associated contaminant concentrations.
• Precise geolocation of sampling sites tied to contamination levels.
• Identification of contamination trends relative to:
  • Military installations and AFFF usage zones
  • Wastewater treatment plants
  • Spray fields and Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIBs)
  • Septic density and development patterns
• Status: GIS mapping is in its final stages and is anticipated to be available for formal review and integration.

3. Integration with Existing TEX Web Map Platform

This project extends the prior TEX-supported Santa Rosa County Web Map Application, enhancing its functionality and scope.

Previously mapped layers included:

• Hurricane Sally flood-impacted properties
• Zoning classifications
• Parcel numbers
• Parcel owners
• Topographic contours
• Known contamination areas
• Public potable water well locations
• Wetland classifications
• Contours
• Subdivisions

New layers to be added:

• PFAS contamination sampling points and concentration gradients
• NOx and additional contaminant indicators
• Correlation overlays with wastewater infrastructure and disposal methods

This integration transforms the application into a multi-layered environmental intelligence tool capable of supporting both emergency response and long-term planning.

4. Community Science & Stakeholder Engagement

• Mobilization of environmentally concerned citizens to assist with sampling efforts.
• Ongoing coordination with laboratories and scientific experts, including:
  • Pace Analytical
  • Eurofins Scientific
  • University of Florida, Dr. John Bowden and academic Staff
• Increased public awareness of watershed health and contamination risks.
• Establishment of a replicable model for community-driven environmental monitoring.

5. Data-Driven Infrastructure & Policy Recommendations

• Identification of systemic wastewater treatment deficiencies.
• Documentation supporting the need for:
  • Tertiary-level advanced wastewater treatment upgrades
  • Modernization of aging infrastructure
  • Reevaluation of spray field and RIB disposal practices
• Evidence-based support for local and regional planning, grant applications, and regulatory engagement.
• The Committee intends to provide this information to Santa Rosa County.

Community Impact

The cumulative impact to the community is profound:

• Public Health Risk: Residents may be exposed to harmful contaminants through drinking water and recreational waterways.
• Environmental Degradation: Critical habitats, including wetlands and estuarine systems, are under increasing stress.
• Economic Consequences: Tourism, property values, and local industries dependent on clean water are at risk.
• Infrastructure Urgency: Immediate investment is needed to modernize wastewater systems to advanced (tertiary) treatment standards.

This issue is not isolated—it is systemic, ongoing, and escalating. The Committee’s work underscores the urgent need for coordinated action among local, state, and federal stakeholders to protect public health, restore environmental integrity, and ensure sustainable water resources for future generations.

The community feels that Santa Rosa County is in denial about the PFAS prevalence and the 15 private water companies are adhering to the fact that although they may be required to test in 2026, there will be no accountability until 2032, per EPA.

The Santa Rosa Watershed Protection Committee remains committed to transparency, continued scientific monitoring, and community engagement to drive meaningful solutions and safeguard one of the region’s most vital natural assets.

Acknowledgements

University of Florida’s Dr. John Bowden and his Staff for PFAS sampling. Dr. Gloria  Horning of Pensacola for assistance with sampling in Escambia County. Santa Rosa County citizens Arthur Hauck, Bill Jarrett, Don Woods, Wes Siler, Jerry Couey, SR Watershed Protection Committee Chair,  and Mary Gutierrez of Earth Ethics.

Future Plans

This project represents a significant advancement in community-led environmental science and geospatial analysis. By extending the Santa Rosa County Web Map Application to include PFAS and related contaminant data, the Santa Rosa Watershed Protection Committee has created a powerful visual tool for understanding and addressing one of the region’s most pressing environmental and public health challenges.

Through the Thriving Earth Exchange framework, this initiative demonstrates how local knowledge, scientific rigor, and geospatial technology can converge to drive meaningful, actionable awareness and resultant change.

Next Steps

1. Finalize and validate GIS mapping dataset.
2. Coordinate future follow-on TEX project.
3. Utilize outputs to support funding requests for future sampling as additional funding will be necessary.
4. Expand sampling and mapping to additional high-risk zones and include Vibrio Vulnificus bacterium testing.
5. Conduct public awareness campaign on Vibrio prevalence and health impacts; work with state Surgeon General to develop statewide rules of engagement in Emergency Rooms for early diagnosis and treatment. 
6. Expand to sister states.
7. Interpret all collected data for Epidemiological correlations.
8. Integrate new contamination layers into the TEX Web Map Application

About the Community

Santa Rosa County, Florida, is a rapidly growing community in Florida’s panhandle that combines rural landscapes with urban developments and is home to several natural resources, military installations, and industrial sites. The community relies on local aquifers, especially the fragile, shallow, local Sand and Gravel Aquifer, as a source of drinking water. However, recent environmental assessments have revealed high levels of PFAS contamination in local water, soil, and fish tissue. This contamination likely originates from nearby industrial sites, wastewater effluent disposal, and military facilities. The citizen-led, science-based Santa Rosa County Watershed Protection Committee, representing local residents and concerned stakeholders, has partnered with the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange to address these environmental and public health issues.

Exposure to PFAS presents difficulties for locals, such as possible health risks, effects on the ecosystem, and contamination of essential water resources and marine life. The community is advocating for preventative measures and sustainable wastewater and industrial effluent management because there aren’t any strict federal or state laws that particularly address the wide variety of PFAS chemicals. By collaborating with Thriving Earth Exchange, Santa Rosa County can leverage scientific knowledge and assistance in developing data-driven strategies to safeguard local drinking water and advance the well-being of the community.

Sunset on Blackwater River. Photo courtesy of Carmen Reynolds

About the Project 

Establishing a comprehensive inventory and GIS mapping of PFAS and other industrial contaminants affecting water quality in Santa Rosa County will lay a crucial foundation for future public health initiatives, policy development, and sustainable environmental management. This GIS-based platform will serve as both a diagnostic and advocacy tool, helping community leaders, county officials, and the public to monitor contaminant hotspots, assess health impacts, and promote policy reform. By providing transparent access to data on contamination levels and affected areas, this project will enable community engagement in decision-making processes, encourage policy changes, and advocate for cleaner wastewater management and industrial practices.

The first phase will involve selecting a compatible mapping platform that integrates with existing county systems (such as Santa Rosa’s GIS map). The project team, including scientists and community leaders, will compile existing data and conduct additional sampling to establish baseline contamination levels in water sources, soil, and fish tissue across the county. Data elements will include natural resources affected (waterways, aquifers, and soil strata) and manmade contaminant sources (industrial sites, wastewater treatment facilities, military installations, and unregulated effluent disposal zones). Each contamination feature will be logged as a GIS layer, exportable for analysis and visualization in multiple formats.

This contamination map will serve as an active monitoring and planning tool. Through GIS layers, stakeholders will be able to access real-time data on contaminant levels, explore correlations between pollution sources and affected areas, and monitor the effectiveness of local mitigation efforts over time. The platform will also help prioritize community health initiatives, supporting both local decision-making and advocacy for state and federal regulations to reduce PFAS levels.

In the end, the map, database and report created will become a resource for Santa Rosa County, with the potential for expansion into predictive modeling and integration with broader community science initiatives. Our long-term project goals will include fostering local expertise in environmental health assessment, embedding regular contaminant testing and reporting into county protocols, and establishing the map as a standard tool for planning and advocacy. Over time, the project outcome will not only serve Santa Rosa County’s environmental needs but will also support a sustainable and resilient future through well-informed policies and community action.

Timeline and Milestones

The project is expected to run for approximately 15 months. Key milestones include:

• Project scoping
• Review of existing test results and GIS maps
• Recruiting and onboarding a volunteer scientist
• Further contaminant testing (within the first three months of onboarding scientist)
• GIS mapping
• Community workshop by the 12th month of the project
• Finalized report by the end of the project

Community Leaders

Carmen Reynolds retired as a lieutenant colonel, serving almost 22 years in the United States Air Force. She completed her BS degree summa cum laude in Criminology & Law Enforcement, her master’s degree in Business Personnel Management and a BA degree in Journalism. She was selected to run The Voyager newspaper with a staff of 20 while studying journalism at the University of West Florida. Carmen was one of the first seven female officers accepted into the Security Police field as a Shift Commander. She held three specialties during her career: Security Police, Administration and Communications, Computers, Electronics & Intelligence. She was named an Outstanding Woman of America in 1983 and distinguished with numerous base, Tactical Air Command and Air Force awards, rising to the top as the runner up for the Outstanding Administrative Officer for the entire Air Force in 1984 while stationed at the United States Air Force Academy as its Deputy Director of Administration. Upon her retirement in 1998 at Hurlburt Field, Florida, as the Deputy Dean of the Air Ground Operations School, now the Command-and-Control Warrior School, she began volunteering for former POW, George Bud Day to obtain healthcare benefits for aging veterans, which resulted in TriCare for Life. She was appointed to the Santa Rosa County Zoning Board, and elected as a Holley-Navarre Fire Commissioner, served on the PTO Board at Holley-Navarre Middle School, its School Advisory Council, and as a mentor at Navarre High School. She was a founding member of Santa Rosa County Crime Stoppers and the co-chair of Navarre’s first-ever Cancer Relay for Life. While working as the Copy Editor at Navarre Press, Carmen received the Florida Press Association’s No. 1 award in 2016 for in-depth journalism for her 5-part series on Veteran Suicide while caring for her Vietnam Veteran father in their home for 11 years. His rare brain disease emanated from his traumatic brain injuries and Agent Orange exposure. She co-founded Recall Florida, an initiative to enable Florida’s 47 non-charter/nonmunicipal counties to recall local-elected officials. Carmen was instrumental in identifying 545 acres of sensitive wetland areas in east Navarre, Florida, for preservation with a multitude of endangered species living there, such as the Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander, the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, Gopher Tortoises, Indigo Snakes and Pitcher Plants. With Carmen’s idea, Santa Rosa County and other conservation agencies converged to cobble funding together to purchase this property for passive conservation/recreation. On Nov. 10 this area was officially named the East Bay River Nature Preserve. She serves on the citizen-led, science-based Watershed Protection Committee to protect water quality and as the vice-president and grant writer for the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center where her initiatives have resulted in a 1,152-square-foot Conservation Education Area with a Stingray & Fish Habitat Viewing Area, an upcoming STEAM collaborative educational initiative and funding for much-needed animal diagnostic equipment, resulting in more than $200,000 in awarded grants. She most recently was appointed to the county’s Citizen Land Development Code Task Force where she was elected as its chair.

Rick Schaeffer earned his AA from Okaloosa-Walton Community College and a BS in geology from the University of South Alabama. He completed an MS at Auburn University in 2001, receiving the Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence. Before completing his university studies, Rick spent over a decade as regional manager of the central United States, including Canada and Mexico for International Transport Inc. (heavy specialized division)  Overseeing the Tulsa OK, Kansas City Mo. and Lincoln Nebraska terminals. Beginning in 2002, Rick served as Site Manager for Escambia County Environmental Health Department, overseeing the cleanup of 55 contaminant plumes across five counties in Northwest Florida. Transitioning to oil exploration in 2009, he worked as a site geologist on numerous wells across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Now retired, Rick continues to consult for small exploration companies and has dedicated the past three years to the Santa Rosa County Watershed Protection Committee, advocating for upgraded filtration systems to ensure clean, safe water for the community.

Community Scientists

Dr. Jeffrey Wickliffe‘s research, education, and service are guided by a commitment to understanding and preventing adverse human health effects from environmental hazards. I focus on identifying modifiable environmental factors that contribute to chronic diseases, using this knowledge to build accurate health risk models and interventions that promote longevity.

As an environmental toxicologist, I take a bench-to-trench approach, combining lab-based work (e.g., chemical biotransformation, genetics, mutagenesis) with human population studies using a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) framework. This approach informs both my bench science and community work, examining how chemical and non-chemical stressors, like socioeconomics, disasters, or food insecurity, interact to affect outcomes such as cancer, reproductive health, and development.

One of my long-term goals is to create cumulative, probabilistic risk models that guide preventive and policy-based solutions. I also integrate my research into teaching, exploring interactions between genetics, diet, trace elements, and environmental exposures, and bringing this into the classroom through innovative pedagogy.

Across all my work, I aim to identify and act on modifiable risks, bridging science and policy to improve public health outcomes.

Dr. Abadi Azar’s is cross-trained in climatology/meteorology and environmental epidemiology. Her research interest focuses on first exploring and better understanding the role of climate and natural environment on public health and, second, on investigating how these impacts vary by demographic characteristics and Social Determinants of Health indicators. Her current projects involve the use of statistical modeling, data management, and machine learning techniques to improve our understanding of how environmental exposure, such as drought and heat waves, is affecting the communities. The proper early warning messaging systems should be backed up by robust scientific research. The ultimate goal of her research is to help improve the allocation of public resources and public health messaging systems to minimize adverse health outcomes driven by climate and weather-related events. Dr. Abadi actively collaborates on multiple federally funded large observational studies to better understand the impacts of drought on health outcomes.

Erin Wright is a current Master of Public Health (MPH) student with a concentration in Environmental Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from UAB in April 2024. In the realm of environmental health, Erin’s research interest lies in examining the intersection of the environment and human health, in particular how such environmental factors influence health outcomes across different regions. She is eager to continue working in the public health field to further explore these factors and engage with the community through communicating environmental health data and ways to preserve and promote health and well-being.

Community Science Fellow

Chioma Onwumelu is a passionate geoscientist specializing in data analysis, water resource management, and environmental assessment. With a strong commitment to bridging science and community needs, she focuses on developing sustainable solutions through collaboration and research. Chioma holds a B-tech degree from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria, and a Ph.D. and MS degree in Geology from the University of North Dakota. Beyond her professional pursuits, Chioma is deeply involved in volunteering for various educational and community initiatives. Her dedication to knowledge-sharing and community engagement underscores her holistic approach to advancing the field of geoscience and fostering a more inclusive and informed society.