LANSING, Mich. — There’s an investigation into PFAS contamination at Capital Region International Airport.
PFAS is a group of man-made chemicals used in a variety of products like fire fighting chemical foam. PFAS exposure can increase the risk of prostate, testicular and kidney cancers; infertility; obesity; and developmental problems in children, according to the EPA.
Katherine Japinga , the marketing director for the airport said in an email that they know there’s PFAS on airport property, but it’s believed there’s no immediate risk to human health.
“At this moment, monitoring soil is continuing along with testing airport wells to make sure drinking water is clean of PFAS contamination,” Japinga said.
In May, residential well sampling, which did not find PFAS in the wells checked.
According to Japinga, PFAS was also not detected in the drinking water wells on airport property.
The airport is also working with an environmental consulting firm Triterra on the monitoring and testing.
"While testing of the residential drinking water wells does not indicate contamination, testing on the airport property does indicate PFAS groundwater contamination which will require additional phases of investigation," Scott Dean, strategic communications adviser with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, said in an email.
Japinga said the airport did submit a work plan for more sampling locations so they can address potential impacts of the PFAS on airport property.
Back in August, there was a plane crash on the property and fire-retardant foam that contained PFAS was used. To minimize any additional PFAS contamination, the airport performed several sampling activities along with mitigation.
Dean said the state will continue to evaluate all the data for potential public health threats as the on-site investigation continues.
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