EGLE awards $9 million in PFAS response grants to 19 Michigan airports

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy today announced $9 million in grants to 19 municipal airports across the state to address PFAS contamination related to the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam. The grant funding will be used for a wide range of activities including PFAS testing and monitoring, potential source control and cleanup strategies for groundwater and stormwater, and cleaning of firefighting equipment and replacement firefighter turn-out gear. The following airports have been awarded funding: Battle Creek Executive Airport - $300,000 Bishop International Airport - $300,000 Capital Region International Airport - $300,000 Cherry Capital Airport (Northwest Regional Airport Authority) - $1,000,000 Chippewa County International Airport / Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation - $475,000 Delta County Airport - $476,697 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport - $370,000 Ford Dickinson County Airport - $462,600 Former Marquette County Airport - $1,000,000 Gerald R Ford International Airport - $150,000 Gogebic-Iron County Airport - $361,400 Houghton County Memorial Airport - $1,000,000 Kalamazoo / Battle Creek International Airport - $710,681 Manistee County Blacker - $150,000 Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport - $150,000 MBS International Airport - $340,202 Oakland County International Airport - $264,479 Pellston Regional Airport - $1,000,000 Willow Run Airport - $250,000 A total of 21 applications requesting $14.8 million for the $9 million in allocated grant funding were received in response to the request for proposals from the Michigan PFAS Response Team (MPART). Commonly known as PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a group of potentially harmful man-made chemicals used in thousands of applications globally, including firefighting foam, food packaging, and many other consumer and industrial applications. They do not break down easily in the environment and are known to accumulate in the tissues of living organisms. MPART is a team of seven state agencies established under an Executive Directive in 2017 to ensure coordination in implementing a response to PFAS contamination. MPART became an enduring body under an Executive Order in 2019. The goal of MPART is to protect public health by identifying sources of PFAS, addressing PFAS contamination at the sources, and working with local health departments to protect people in areas where groundwater is impacted by PFAS. To learn more about PFAS and what the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) is doing to address PFAS, go to www.michigan.gov/pfasresponse.