LANSING — The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy announced $9 million in grants to 19 municipal airports statewide to address PFAS contamination linked to the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, including more than $6 million for 10 airports in Northern Michigan.
According to a Jan. 16 news release from the department, in Northern Michigan Cherry Capital Airport, Houghton County Memorial Airport, the former Marquette County Airport and Pellston Regional Airport each received $1 million.
Chippewa County International Airport received $475,000, Delta County Airport received $476,697, Ford Dickinson County Airport received $462,600, Gogebic-Iron County Airport received $361,400, Manistee County Blacker received $150,000 and Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport received $150,000.
Statewide, the grant funding will support activities including PFAS testing and monitoring, potential source control and cleanup strategies for groundwater and stormwater and cleaning firefighting equipment and replacing firefighter turn-out gear.
A total of 21 applications requesting $14.8 million were received in response to the request for proposals from the Michigan PFAS Response Team.
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.
The Michigan PFAS Response Team is a team of seven state agencies established under an Executive Directive in 2017 to coordinate the state’s response to PFAS contamination.
It became an enduring body under an Executive Order in 2019, with a goal of protecting public health by identifying sources of PFAS, addressing contamination at the sources and working with local health departments to protect people in areas where groundwater is impacted.
More information is available at this link.