Little Mike Lake on Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, seen here on June 8, 2026, is one of five lakes and streams in the Grafenwoehr Training Area that have been designated off-limits to fishing after elevated levels of toxic PFAS chemicals were detected in fish samples. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
An Army base in southern Germany is investigating whether past firefighting exercises are to blame for toxic chemicals found in fish samples taken from area waterways.
U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria suspended fishing in five lakes and streams in the Grafenwoehr Training Area earlier this month after elevated levels of PFAS were discovered in the samples.
Anglers were advised not to consume any fish caught in the affected bodies of water: Little Mike Lake, Rod and Gun Lakes 1 and 2, Thumbach Stream and Schaumbach Stream.
PFAS, or human-made per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are long-lasting chemicals used to make products resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease and water. They are also found in firefighting foam historically used at U.S. military bases around the world. PFOS and PFOA are two common types.
The samples were taken in November 2024 and sent to a contracted lab for analysis, base spokeswoman Susanne Bartsch said Monday. The analysis and evaluation took one year, she said.
It was not clear why several months apparently passed between completion of the testing process and the public advisory. Bartsch did not answer questions about the timing.
Fishing in Germany is for consumption only, since catch-and-release practices are prohibited under German fishing regulations.
Drinking water on and around the installation remains safe and is monitored by U.S. and German environmental officials, the garrison said.
Home to the largest Army training area in Europe, the garrison has historically conducted firefighting training at various locations within the training area and commonly used foams containing PFAS “in line with standard practices at the time,” Bartsch said.
Fishing is off-limits at Little Mike Lake in Vilseck, Germany, seen here on June 8, 2026, after elevated levels of toxic PFAS chemicals were detected in fish samples. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
The base stopped using firefighting foam containing the chemicals in 2024, she added.
Dubbed “forever chemicals” because they accumulate in the body over time, PFAS have long been a thorny issue for the U.S. military around the world.
They were an ingredient in aviation firefighting foams used to combat fuel fires on military bases starting in the 1970s, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs website. The foams became a “major source” of groundwater contamination, it added.
When asked to provide copies of the report detailing the PFAS levels detected in the five Grafenwoehr bodies of water, Bartsch referred the questions to Bavarian government officials, who also declined to provide the information.
However, the PFAS levels detected in the lakes and streams “do not exceed any legal host nation threshold values,” Bartsch said.
The acceptable level of PFOS and PFOA allowed in drinking water in the U.S. was set at 4 parts per trillion, or approximately 4 nanograms per liter, in 2024, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
Compliance was mandated for 2029, but a proposal by the EPA earlier this year would push the deadline back to 2031.
The limit in Germany is currently 100 nanograms per liter for certain toxic chemicals, including PFOS and PFOA, but is slated to become 20 nanograms per liter by 2028, according to the German Environment Agency.
There are no safe amounts of these chemicals, the EPA said in 2022.
Wolfgang Specht, chairman of the Grafenwoehr 1881 fishing club, said he was perplexed by why it took so long to get answers on the severity of the pollution.
“The situation is not nice for us,” Specht said.
Established in 1881, the club boasts around 240 members. None of them are fishing those waters now because of the restrictions, he said.
PFAS compounds have been linked to a range of adverse health conditions, including increased cholesterol, liver and immune system damage, low birth weight and certain cancers.
In recent years, the U.S. military has faced growing scrutiny over its use of PFAS-laden products. The issue has been seized upon by protesters in Okinawa, Japan, seeking to expel U.S. military bases there.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 ordered the Pentagon to phase out firefighting foams containing PFAS by October 2024. The secretary of defense was authorized two one-year conditional waivers that could delay implementation to 2026.
Stars and Stripes reporter Marcus Kloeckner contributed to this report.
