by Oliver Morrison, PublicSource
This story comes from PublicSource, a nonprofit digital-first news organization that delivers public-service reporting and analysis in the Pittsburgh region.
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Reports from former firefighters, airport records, expert scientists and a military study indicate that the Pittsburgh International Airport is likely the source of a PFAS chemical plume. Airport officials say they are doing everything the law requires but declined to say if they are taking additional steps experts say are needed to protect the health of nearby residents.
LISTEN: “PFAS Contamination is Likely at Pittsburgh Airport”
Since the early 1970s, airport firefighters have been using aqueous film forming foam [AFFF] to put out and prevent oil and gas fires. PFAS chemicals do not break down on their own. Many of the chemicals that were left in the ground decades ago are likely still there. The rest would have been carried away by rain into pockets of underground water and nearby streams. PFAS is associated with cancers, kidney disease, low infant birth weights and hormone disruptions.
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