The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) announced last week the approval of $1.4 million for the collection and disposal of PFAS-containing aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) currently held in inventory by the state’s fire departments and commercial airports. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy immediately awarded US Ecology of Livonia a seven-month, approximate $1.4 million contract to collect and safely dispose of more than 30,000 gallons of Class B AFFF. Under the contract, US Ecology will collect the foam from local fire departments and transport it to its hazardous waste facility where it will be solidified and disposed of in a landfill with a three-layer liner, leachate collection system, and activated carbon filtration for additional containment.
AFFF is attributed to contaminated drinking water in hundreds of Air Force bases and commercial airports across the country. In a 2018 survey, MPART identified that about half of the state’s fire departments had Class B AFFF in their inventories.
