Plaintiff accuses Defendant military base of environmental contamination

The City of Dayton, Ohio has taken a significant legal step to protect its drinking water supply by filing a complaint against the United States government. On February 19, 2026, the City filed this complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, accusing the United States Department of Defense’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) of contaminating Dayton’s water supply with harmful per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The City is seeking cost recovery and enforcement under both the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).

The complaint outlines that PFAS contamination has been migrating from WPAFB into Dayton’s wellfield since at least 2016. Despite multiple orders from Ohio EPA and pleas from state officials, WPAFB has not taken sufficient action to halt this contamination. The City claims that it has incurred over $14 million in emergency response costs due to this issue. The plaintiff argues that these actions violate several federal laws and agreements including CERCLA’s National Contingency Plan and the Federal Facility Agreement signed by WPAFB in 1991.

Dayton alleges that despite being aware of PFAS contamination risks since as early as 1973, WPAFB failed to prevent PFAS from entering groundwater supplies used by nearly 400,000 residents. The complaint highlights that while WPAFB installed a treatment system for its own water supply in 2017, it did not take similar steps for Dayton’s water supply. This neglect persists even after U.S. EPA established stringent standards for PFAS in drinking water.

The City is asking the court to order WPAFB to reimburse all past and future response costs related to PFAS contamination. Additionally, they seek injunctive relief requiring WPAFB to comply with previous orders from Ohio EPA and Dayton’s Wellfield Protection Ordinance. They also request civil penalties for ongoing violations.

Representing the City of Dayton are attorneys Stephen N. Haughey from FBT Gibbons LLP and John C. Musto from the City of Dayton Department of Law. The case is presided over by Judge Michael J. Newman under Case ID: 3:26-cv-00056-MJN-CHG.