Read the full article by William T. Perkins (Petoskey News)
“PELLSTON — Emmet County and state officials are still looking for an answer to what caused the recent spill of PFAS-containing foam at the Pellston Regional Airport.
But county administrator Mike Reaves said he expects to know soon. The incident, which occurred Jan. 27 during a firefighting equipment test, released about a gallon of fluid containing chemicals classified under the category of per- and polyfluoroalkyls, commonly abbreviated as PFAS, according to past reports. In statements made shortly after the county went public with the news of that incident, Reaves said he would have two major priorities over the weeks that followed: cleaning up the contamination before the ground became too thawed, and figuring out what went wrong.
The county set plans in motion earlier this month to accomplish that first objective, signing a $45,000-plus contract with the remediation firm Job Site Services to remove the contaminated material. There are still some missing links in resolving the second.
But Reaves said he’s ruled out a malfunction with a new piece of state-funded testing equipment.
‘We’re getting close, but we’re not ready yet,’ Reaves said this week. ‘We expect to have something definitive here soon — real soon…’”