Saskia Hatvany
La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
(TNS)
Jul. 6—Two spills of chemical firefighting foam occurred at the La Crosse Regional Airport in the span of four months earlier this year, according to official reports filed by the airport.
The foam contains polyfluoroalkyl substances, a suspected carcinogen also known as PFAS, and is the same substance that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has pointed to as the cause of drinking water pollution in French Island wells.
Both spills were caused by human error and involved the accidental release of firefighting foam known as aqueous film-forming foam, according to two spill reports submitted by the airport to the DNR.
The first spill, on Feb. 1, occurred during a routine test on firefighting equipment. According to the report, the airport’s operations coordinator mistakenly engaged the wrong switch, releasing four to six gallons of water containing AFFF foam into a grassy area southeast of the airport. Cleanup efforts began within two hours of the spill, and a layer of contaminated grass and soil was removed and stored in steel drums.
Less than four months later, during another routine test May 9, an airport mechanic mistakenly engaged the flow of water for approximately 60 seconds, releasing 125 gallons of foam solution onto the airport tarmac.
Sandbags were placed around the stormwater drains within 30 minutes of the spill. The stormwater outfall, which drains into a grassy area filled with gravel, was capped and is to remain closed until the liquid can be disposed of. The remaining liquid on the tarmac was absorbed with 1,400 lbs of oil dry powder and 50 absorbent socks and was stored in steel drums.
Until last year, the Federal Aviation Administration required all commercial airports to use AFFF to extinguish fires. In September 2023, the FAA recognized the environmental and health hazards of AFFF and authorized the use of fluorine-free foam, also called F3, an extinguishing agent that has been in use in Europe for over two decades.
French Island residents, over 4,000 people, have been drinking bottled water since 2019, when testing identified toxic levels of PFAS in a majority of the town’s wells. While the issue is still being investigated, the DNR has linked some of the contamination to the airport’s burn pits, where AFFF foam was used during training exercises. The city of La Crosse, which owns the airport land, is listed as the responsible party, according to a letter issued by the DNR to the city of La Crosse on May 10, 2019.
In October 2023, the La Crosse Regional Airport approved $16,500 in their budget for the purchase of fluorine-free foam. La Crosse mayor Mitch Reynolds confirmed that the new fluorine-free foam has been purchased and is available for use at the airport along with a designated truck, though the AFFF foam could still be used if needed.
“If the disaster is large enough, the primary truck is the fluorine-free foam; we do have a backup truck that would be used in an extreme situation,” Reynolds said. “That backup truck will go through the … approved cleanup process so we can put new fluorine-free foam in it.”
Reynolds said that the AFFF foam would be removed from airport premises “within the next few months” but was unable to provide a specific date. The contaminated materials from both spills are also set to be removed within the year, he said. The La Crosse Regional Airport did not respond for comment.
“As long as the airport still has AFFF, as long as they still have it in a vehicle, as long as that vehicle is on airport property and still has the opportunity to spill through whatever event … we can’t solve our problem,” said Lee Donahue, town of Campbell supervisor.
Donahue, who has been at the forefront of the town’s contaminated drinking water issue, has been lobbying for the foam to be removed from airport property since the 2023 ruling.
“Until all of the airports in the U.S. that use this toxic substance make a conscious decision that they’re going to stop using a toxic substance … we are just going to keep poking ourselves in the eye,” Donahue said.
Chemicals that seep into the soil can make their way into below-ground aquifers where towns and cities get their drinking water.
“There is no giant moat that surrounds French Island that prevents AFFF from going to La Crosse, Onalaska, La Crescent or any other community, so it really is imperative that we cut it off from the source,” Donahue said.
Laboratory testing of the soil collected from the February spill detected 21 PFAS compounds and 18 compounds in respective samples. According to the report, the concentration meets Wisconsin’s NR720 soil cleanup standards.
___
(c)2024 the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.)
Visit the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.) at www.lacrossetribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
