b'ENVIRONMENTALMVY 53legislation to varying degrees to ban the substance. Those states include Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois,Soil settling tubes help determine onsite conditions for remediation purposes. Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Unfolding IssueAirports across the United States and abroad have discovered PFAS in their groundwater, PHOTO: REGENESISand its also being detected in communities without airports. Its coming from various sources, says MVY Airport Director Geoff Freeman. Its in our daily lives.GEOFF FREEMANA 2022 National Fire Protection Association report indicates that foam manufacturers have offered alternative products, such as so-called fluorine-free foams (F3), for years, with manufacturers, the military and firefighting entities continuing to research effectiveness, compatibility with equipment, and the best ways to use alternative products on fires.The PFAS issue emerged at MVY In 2017. Once the possibilitygravel and rock materials. Groundwater can pass through the of PFAS contamination was clear, the airport hired Tetra Tech,underground filter that forms, but pollutants like PFAS are retained an environmental consultant that has worked with the airport onon the carbon surface. It is a barrier for contaminants but does other projects over the years. Tetra Tech began by testing thenot impede water flow, Dooley explains. groundwater beneath and near the airfield, including water fromRon Myrick, a Tetra Tech vice president, nearby residential wells. The firm did, in fact, find elevated levelssays that there are notable advantages to the of PFAS. State environmental guidelines recommend, but do notapproach, especially compared to conventional legislate, a maximum of 70 parts per trillion. Some spots at andpump-and-treat methods that incur ongoing around MVY tested at more than 1,000 parts per trillion.operation and maintenance costs and require That was more than enough for MVY decision makers. They sentoff-site waste disposal. Over time, Myrick a letter to local residents that reported the findings and detailed theestimates that the PlumeStop method can airports plans to develop a strategy for dealing with the situation. deliver significant savingslikely several-hundred thousand dollars, as well as reducedRON MYRICKMVY made a conscious decision to test for this emergingliability since no wastes are being disposed off-site where they hazard ahead of regulatory agencies potential implementationcould be the source of a new problem elsewhere. of new regulations, Freeman points out. Were part of the community of Marthas Vineyard, and that comes first. WeThe multi-pronged initiative at MYV included soil assessment, needed to understand how and where these chemicals havedesign and approval, installing the carbon barrier and then impacted our community, and to make the necessary changesmonitoring its performance. Because it is a pilot project, the to our procedures, and to notify and treat the water supply of thebarrier does not encompass the entire site in question. Instead, residents affected.the project team selected a small, key portion: the AFFF testing area located south of Runway 6-24 (the longer of the airports two Innovative Response asphalt runways) and west of its wastewater treatment plant. In Once the chemicals were detected, MVY initiated extensive researchother words, the carbon barrier went into the ground within yards that included mapping the sites geology, charting the flow and depthof where firefighters had discharged AFFF for years during required of groundwater, and monitoring PFAS levels. Armed with that data, the airport commissioned Tetra Tech to implement a pilot program in 2022. During the pilot, personnel placed and tested PlumeStop, a patented in situ remediation technology from Regenesis. Maureen Dooley, vice president for the companys industrial sector, compares PlumeStop to a householdPlanningwater filter, noting that the filteringDELTA AIRPORT Engineeringprocess occurs below ground. CrewsCONSULTANTS, INC. Environmentalinject colloidal-activated carbon intoIndustry Analysiswww.deltaairport.com Program Management the subsurface, where it coats sand,Construction AdministrationMAUREEN DOOLEY Business & Financial PlanningAirportImprovement.comJuly | August 2023'