Located in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, the installation began construction during World War II as one of the Navy's northeastern lighter-than-air blimp bases, conducting anti-submarine patrol operations along the Atlantic coast. After a brief post-war caretaker period, it reopened in 1953 as a major Naval Air Reserve Training installation and remained active until 1997, supporting three runways, aircraft hangars, maintenance facilities, and fire stations built largely between the 1940s and 1970s.
AFFF exposure at Naval Air Station South Weymouth
Naval Air Station South Weymouth maintained a dedicated Fire Fighting Training Area that, according to EPA and Navy records, operated from approximately 1950 through 1990, a 40-year span during which firefighters regularly ignited waste fuel and jet fuel before extinguishing the fires with high-pressure water and AFFF. Early training took place on open asphalt using old vehicles and fuel, and later exercises moved to specially constructed concrete burn pits, a shift that reflects just how long and how routinely this training continued. Records document repeated AFFF use during these exercises, which later led to a dedicated PFAS investigation at the site.
That four-decade training history meant firefighters encountered AFFF through:
- conducting aircraft crash rescue training
- extinguishing aviation fuel fires
- mixing AFFF concentrate
- operating foam hoses
- testing foam proportioning equipment
- cleaning firefighting vehicles
- maintaining foam storage tanks
Because certification required recurring live-fire exercises, this wasn't a handful of isolated incidents but a pattern that repeated across entire careers spent at the base.
Navy firefighters and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel carried the bulk of this exposure, joined by fire instructors, firefighter trainees, civilian firefighters assigned to NAS South Weymouth, and the personnel who maintained firefighting apparatus and foam storage systems.
Kidney and thyroid cancer have been linked to PFAS chemicals found in AFFF among firefighters with this kind of sustained occupational exposure. If you trained at the Fire Fighting Training Area or otherwise served as a firefighter at NAS South Weymouth and were later diagnosed with one of these cancers, our team can help you find out whether you're eligible to file.
Asbestos exposure at Naval Air Station South Weymouth
Like many Navy aviation installations built during the mid-20th century, Naval Air Station South Weymouth incorporated asbestos throughout its infrastructure for the material's fire-resistant and insulating properties. Materials commonly used throughout its hangars, maintenance shops, and barracks included:
Occupational exposure at Naval Air Station South Weymouth was especially likely among:
- aviation ordnanceman
- electrician's mate
- pipefitter/utilitiesman
- boiler technician/watertender
- machinist's mate/machinery repairman
- structural mechanic
Naval Air Station South Weymouth operated for more than 50 years, much of that time when asbestos-containing products were standard throughout Navy aviation facilities, and its aircraft maintenance buildings, steam systems, and utility infrastructure all likely incorporated these materials. Maintenance workers and skilled trades personnel responsible for keeping this infrastructure running faced the greatest risk of exposure. A diagnosis of mesothelioma or lung cancer, the two conditions most strongly tied to asbestos exposure, often doesn't surface until 20 to 50 years after the original exposure, meaning someone who worked at NAS South Weymouth decades ago may only now be learning of the connection. If your service included maintenance work and you've since received one of these diagnoses, contact our team to find out whether you're eligible to file a claim.