Art Schaap was forced to slaughter 3,665 dairy cows after PFAS from Cannon Air Force Base contaminated his Clovis water. State regulators revoked his milk permit when testing revealed 14,320 parts per trillion of the chemicals. The contamination, linked to firefighting foam used on base, left his Highland Dairy a barren plot of protruding bones and weeds.

New Mexico's resulting lawsuit against the federal government has been designated a bellwether for over 15,000 similar claims nationwide. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, motivated by personal history with nuclear contamination, filed the 2019 suit. A federal judge in South Carolina selected it to set precedent because the pollution source—the base's firefighter training area—is unequivocal.

A recent agreement provides testing funding, but the core legal fight continues. The state argues the Air Force must account for the human, economic, and environmental costs. With the EPA now reconsidering some regulations, the court's decision could reshape accountability for the pervasive PFAS pollution plaguing hundreds of U.S. military installations.