Dane County Executive Melissa Agard said the Dane County Regional Airport is six months into using new technology to clean up PFAS there — and the results are promising.
A pilot project shows a 99% reduction of prominent perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS are especially prevalent at the airport due to firefighting foam which was used for training in the past. The airport property includes the former Darwin Road fire training area, which led to the chemicals seeping into the ground and water.
Known as “forever chemicals” because they are so difficult to break down, PFAS need to be cleaned up as they have been linked to health risks including cancer.
“We were on the front end of engaging with very new technology, and we’re six months into a year of results, and those results are showing to be extraordinary,” Agard said. “I hope that over the next six months that we’re able to continue to feel very proud of being a leader in engaging with an innovative project to continue to protect and preserve our natural spaces.”
Airport Director Mark Papko said the Dane County airport is the first in the country to engage in bioremediation of PFAS. Bioremediation uses live organisms like fungi, bacteria or plants to degrade and remove PFAS from contaminated sites.
The airport is working with Verona’s ORIN Technologies and its microbes to reduce the movement of PFAS in groundwater and reduce contaminating compounds. The pilot remediation work is being done in coordination with the Department of Natural Resources and in conjunction with Fixed Earth Innovations, headquartered in Canada.
“We’re excited to get the 12-month results, and then we can factor in, what does this mean going forward, and how can we use this technology in its current form, or how can it be adapted to fit the various needs that we are seeing?” Papko said. “But it’s exciting to be on the leading edge of it.”
Dane Country Regional Airport has invested $1.5 million to use the remediation process at the Darwin site, partially funded with revenue earmarked by the Dane County Board from the Raemisch Farm settlement revenue. Work on the project will continue with another round of sampling later this year.
“Now that we have kicked off the airport master plan process at the airport, we can potentially incorporate this technology into a larger area for remediation as part of the master plan if we continue to see strong results,” Papko said.
