Read the full article by Chris Hubbuch (Wisconsin State Journal)
“Tests of groundwater at two former firefighter training areas at the Madison airport have revealed hazardous chemicals known as PFAS at levels thousands of times higher than recommended health standards.
An environmental contractor hired by the Dane County Regional Airport found combined levels of two chemicals — PFOA and PFOS — at more than 68,000 parts per trillion in water collected from a site near Darwin Road, according to a report submitted last week to the Department of Natural Resources.
Samples taken from a site near Pearson Street found levels in excess of 20,000 ppt.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends against consuming water with more than 70 ppt of PFOA and PFOS combined, while Wisconsin’s Department of Health has proposed a safe drinking water standard of 20 ppt for the two.
In June 2018, the DNR notified Dane County, the city of Madison and the Wisconsin Air National Guard that they share responsibility for the contamination at the two sites, which were known as ‘burn pits’ used for firefighter training between the 1950s and 1980s.
Last year Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway told the DNR the city should not be responsible for the burn pits, but the DNR maintains that the city provided firefighting services for Truax Field and owned the Darwin Road site until 1974, when the federal government required the use of PFAS foams at military bases…”