CONCORD, N.H. — The Air Force plans to spend $30 million more this year to clean up contaminated ground water at a former base in New Hampshire, officials said this week.

The ground water at the former Pease Air Force Base was contaminated with perfluorinated compounds from the use of firefighting foam. Exposure to the chemicals has been linked in animal studies to low birth weight, accelerated puberty, cancer, and thyroid problems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Air Force has already spent $25 million addressing the contamination and plans on spending $30 million more in 2017, including $13 million to build a system to treat the ground water from one of the contaminated wells.

‘‘Protecting the Portsmouth community is our priority,’’ said Peter Forbes, Air Force environmental project manager at Pease.

Since 2015, New Hampshire health officials have tested the blood of nearly 1,800 people — including 366 children — who worked on or lived near Pease or attended day care there.

Those tested had significantly higher levels of three perfluorinated compounds than people who took part in a 2012 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.