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Resiliency study draft due mid‑August; staff report possible PFAS detection near former training area
Summary
Airport staff said a resiliency study will produce a draft report in mid‑August and that geotechnical sampling so far looks promising; the meeting also covered environmental sampling that detected PFAS/PFOS in phase‑one tests and staff described possible remediation options and ongoing investigations into a historical training area.
Agency official said the airport resiliency study is near completion and that a draft report is expected in mid‑August. The study evaluates how the airport would perform after a Cascadia‑scale seismic event and includes multiple geotechnical core samples, including one reaching approximately 100 feet. "We should be seeing a report mid August, the draft report," the Agency official said, adding the team will produce a finalized report in time for the September AC meeting.
Commissioners discussed whether the resiliency findings would feed into the terminal area plan; Agency official said the resiliency work is a high‑level evaluation of terminal condition and would inform—but not replace—terminal planning work.
Separately, committee members and staff discussed recent environmental testing that detected PFAS/PFOS compounds in a phase‑one environmental sample near what staff suspect was a historical training area. Staff said the training area and firefighting foam use are plausible sources and that they are compiling historical photos and records to identify site locations. "The firefighting foam contained those PFAS/PFOS chemicals for decades," a staff member said.
Staff described remediation approaches under consideration depending on contamination extent, including soil removal to a landfill, paving to limit groundwater migration, or specialized thermal or chemical treatments for challenging wastes. The Airport Commission did not authorize remediation spending at the meeting; staff said further sampling and evaluation are ongoing and that a companion Army National Guard sampling project is underway.
Staff will return with the resiliency draft and with any confirmed environmental findings and recommended next steps once investigations and sampling are complete.
