DOT: Soil, groundwater at Maui airport pit contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Following soil testing, the state has confirmed the presence of so-called “forever chemicals” at a Kahului Airport firefighting training pit.

The state Department of Transportation conducted soil testing at several airports statewide because of growing concerns over forever chemicals in firefighting foam or AFFF.

The DOT says there was confirmed contamination of PFAS in the soil and groundwater beneath a firefighting training pit at Kahului Airport.

The groundwater is not a source of drinking water and other drinking water sources are not threatened.

An orange fence that’s about 300 feet by 10 feet now surrounds the patch of ground at Kahului Airport’s Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Training Pit.

PFAS chemicals are found in firefighting foam used to put out fuel fires.

“We found measures that were above the action levels for PFAS in that area and that’s for direct exposure,” said Ed Sniffen, state Department of Transportation director.

“To eliminate the potential for direct exposure, we fenced that full area off.”

PFAS chemicals have been used by many industries because they repel oil and water, but there’s growing evidence of potential health impacts including cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility and hormone suppression.

“It’s really dangerous and because it’s a foam, it can be hundreds of feet, thousands of feet away from where the fire was,” said Ann Wright, retired Army colonel and activist.

The DOT started testing because of national concerns over PFAS forever chemicals.

It tested six locations at airports across the state.

Besides Kahului, the soil testing included the former training pits at Kona, Honolulu, Hilo and Lihue airports. DOT is still waiting for results from Kona Airport while the other airports showed no action level contamination.

“We don’t use AFFF in any of our training any more. It’s all containerized,” Sniffen said.

“It’s all sealed to keep everybody safe when they use it.”

A 2020 Army report said there were releases of firefighting foam at random locations at the Kalaeloa Airport. Sniffen said he wasn’t aware of future soil testing there.

The DOT is working with the state Health Department on a plan to remediate the Maui site.

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