Despite a new study's conclusion that toxic firefighting foam at Peterson Air Force Base potentially fouled drinking water in Security, Widefield and Fountain, Air Force officials have no plans to fully reimburse those communities for $6 million they've spent responding to the crisis.

More than 70 percent of those checks issued by those water districts to deal with toxic chemicals contaminating the Widefield Aquifer likely will not be reimbursed, Air Force officials signaled last week. And those uncompensated costs are expected to balloon, with the districts likely on the hook for $11 million of their $12.7 million response tab by the end of 2018.

Cornell Long, a chemist with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, disputed the center's ability to reimburse communities for their costs, saying, "We don't back pay - we cannot reimburse."

A follow-up request by The Gazette for clarification on reimbursement was forwarded to Air Force lawyers, who had not responded Friday.

However, an email Friday from the center said, "The Air Force does not have the authority to reimburse communities for costs incurred in dealing with environmental contamination issues."

The assertion highlighted a singular theme accompanying the Air Force's new report on its role in the contamination. Despite more than a year having passed since the discovery, real answers about the toxic chemicals - their origin, their effect on residents' health and who should pay to remove them - are likely years away.

The Air Force has pledged $4.3 million in aid, much of which is undelivered.

Of that amount, only an estimated $1.7 million will go toward the utilities' big tab, a Gazette analysis found. Much of the rest is being spent on bottled water and filters.

Air Force Civil Engineer Center leaders said last week that they do not expect to implement a plan for remediation until the 2020s, although "interim measures" might come sooner.

Meanwhile, ratepayers' tabs are running.

"We really need financial help," said Roy Heald, Security Water and Sanitation Districts' manager. "We need to get going on those things before the 2020s."

On Tuesday, the Air Force held a private meeting for local officials to brief them on the new study, a news conference, and a community open house for residents. More studies will be forthcoming but not soon. Questions of additional financial aid or reimbursement for expenses incurred were left hanging.

A center spokesman stressed the agency is taking "very aggressive" steps across the Air Force to protect residents.

"The first commitment is to protect human health and the environment," said Mark Kinkade, an agency spokesman.

Not everyone is convinced.

El Paso County Commissioner Mark Waller, a former Air Force officer, fears local water districts will have borne the brunt of costs by the time Air Force leaders finish their studies, now scheduled to run well into 2019.

"That's not an excuse, I think, that should be used in order to end up not paying for these things," Waller said.

Carla Lucas, 67, who has lived in Security and drank its water for 45 years, is blunter.

"We have all this wonderful rich groundwater that we cannot use," Lucas said. "And we'll continue paying higher bills until the Air Force gets off their ass and pays to get it cleaned up."

Fountain officials, for example, have budgeted for the $4.2 million in fixes through 2018 necessary to remedy the problem there.

Widefield doesn't expect to raise rates, but Security does - a rate study is planned for this fall. Fountain raised rates 5.3 percent this year due primarily to the toxic chemicals.

The combined $12.7 million price tag through 2018 represents only part of the districts' expected cost of dealing with the contaminated water.

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