The Dane County Board approved a bioremediation pilot project Nov. 13, a $1.5 million contract with the Dane County Regional Airport that has begun to clean up PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, according to The Cap Times.
PFAS are used in firefighting foam to tackle fires or airplane crashes, but the chemicals have also been shown to cause environmental issues, Dane County Board Supervisor for District 6 and Environment, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Chair Yogesh Chawla said.
“What we’ve learned is that PFAS chemicals are hazardous at parts per trillion, and the EPA recently declared that PFAS chemicals are unsafe at any level,” Chawla said.
Studies have revealed associations between exposure to PFAS with a variety of health effects including altered immune and thyroid function, liver disease, kidney disease, negative reproductive and developmental effects and cancer, according to the National Institutes of Health.
PFAS levels are highly elevated in certain Madison waterways, like Starkweather Creek, Chawla said.
“If you take Lake Monona and put an eyedropper full of PFAS chemicals in there, it could potentially pollute that entire lake,” Chawla said.
PFAS chemicals were created on-site at the Dane County Regional Airport from firefighting operations conducted there with the Air National Guard Base, Chawla said.
A 2018 investigation from MINDS@UW, detected PFAS contamination in soils and groundwater under airport property, Dane County Regional Airport Director of Marketing and Communications Michael Riechers said.
“The airport continues to prioritize remediation at identified contamination sites,” Riechers said. “We are working in close partnership with the Air National Guard as they progress through their investigation process.”
Environmental remediation is the process of removing pollutants and contaminants from water and soil, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When it comes to getting rid of PFAS chemicals, remediation techniques are the best option, Chawla said.
PFAS chemicals are difficult to clean up because the chemical bonds for PFAS chemicals are so tight that it’s really hard to break through, giving PFAS chemicals its nickname “forever chemicals,” Chawla said. The pilot project will use certain chemicals to help break down PFAS as much as possible, Chawla said.
“It’s a very serious concern, and unfortunately, there really is no proven technology to fully get rid of PFAS,” Chawla said.
The pilot project has already reduced concentrations of PFAS in contaminated airport grounds with an average of 97% decrease at one of the testing sites, Riechers said.
The Dane County Regional Airport is working in close partnership with the Air National Guard as the National Air Force progresses through their own investigation process at the Dane County airport. The investigation includes identifying additional areas of concern and developing recommendations for further action, Riechers said.
The Wisconsin National Guard is federally mandated to follow the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act eight-step process to address PFAS concerns at its facilities, Wisconsin National Guard Deputy Director of Public Affairs Paul Gorman said.
“The Wisconsin National Guard has and will continue to follow all federal and state laws related to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” Gorman said.
Truax Field, an Air National Guard base in Dane County, is currently in step three of the CERCLA process — the remedial investigation — after receiving authorization and funding from the National Guard Bureau, Gorman said.
The process involves an evaluation of contamination at a site and then evaluates potential threats to human health and the environment, Gorman said.
“Truax Field has made significant strides to ensure that future environmental risk is minimized, while working with the Federal Aviation Administration firefighting response requirement,” Gorman said.
The U.S. Department of Defense has been required to transition away from using firefighting foam that contains PFAS. But, this kind of foam has been considered the most effective product for suppressing jet fuel fires, so it has been a slow process for firefighting departments to completely stop using PFAS foam, according to a study from the Journal of Environmental Research.
In March 2023, Truax Field was the first U.S. Air Force installation to remove all foam fire suppression systems in all facilities, Gorman said.
Regarding the reliability of Dane County Regional Airport’s pilot project, the Wisconsin Department of National Resources thoroughly reviewed and monitored the plan and has been supportive throughout the process, Riechers said.
The airport is committed to reducing their contribution to climate change, improving air and water quality, reducing the impact of noise, and improving and preserving natural resources, Riechers said.
There have been continued concerns of the reliability of this clean-up process, and the airport directs those to a document created by the airport last year, which was made to be presented at a meeting between the Airport Commission and the Environment, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Riechers said.
