![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/DI-03093-0052edit-2.jpg\")
“Under existing federal rules, commercial service\nairports are required to test ARFF equipment, including firefighting foam\nproportioning systems, to ensure aviation-related fires can be extinguished\nquickly in an emergency situation,” said Mike Trout, executive\nadministrator of the MDOT Office of Aeronautics, director of the MAC, and MPART\ndelegate. “Given that we now more fully understand the concerns associated\nwith some types of firefighting foam, establishing this grant program and\nbringing this new testing equipment to Michigan quickly was paramount.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approved by the MAC on March 27, the grant program provides\neach commercial service airport in Michigan with nearly $25,000 each to acquire\nenvironmentally conscious firefighting foam testing devices, such as the\nEcologic System manufactured by E-One or the Oshkosh ECO EFP. These types of\ndevices connect to existing ARFF trucks to ensure proper foam proportioning\nwithout the need to dispense any firefighting foam concentrate, which\neliminates a potential pathway for PFAS to enter the environment while ensuring\nthe readiness of airport firefighting equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Colorado, this new statewide initiative, developed in\ncollaboration with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment\n(CDPHE), comes amid an increasing environmental focus on the PFAS chemicals, as\nthey have been found to pose pervasive challenges to drinking water supplies.\nAirports certified under Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 139 are\ncurrently required by federal regulations to use PFAS-based foam, and to\nannually test and certify aircraft rescue firefighting equipment by discharging\nfoam from a firefighting vehicle into a container. During this process, firefighting foam often\ncomes in direct contact with the ground. Under the provisions of this new\nstatewide aviation initiative, the Colorado Division of Aeronautics will\nprovide funding of specialized testing and containment equipment designed to\nallow FAA-compliant firefighting foam testing to take place without the need\nfor regular foam discharges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colorado has 14 FAA-certified airports that are eligible to\nreceive funding to acquire this equipment with the exception of Denver\nInternational Airport (DEN) which already uses similar equipment for\nfirefighting foam discharge testing and training, and Colorado Springs\nMunicipal Airport, where aircraft rescue and firefighting services are provided\nby the United States Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In developing this statewide aviation initiative, the\nColorado Division of Aeronautics has established a strong partnership with the\nColorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to support CDPHE\u2019s\nefforts in mitigating these chemicals statewide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Division looks forward to working closely with CDPHE\nand Colorado\u2019s airports to proactively taking action where we can to be good\nstewards of our environment and Colorado\u2019s local communities,\u201d said Aeronautics\nDivision Director David Ulane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ulane-1.jpg\")
\u201cWe are pleased that the Colorado Aeronautical Board will\njoin with us in protecting the public from toxic chemicals found in some\nfire-fighting foams. Through the Board\u2019s innovation, airports will be able to\ncomply with federal law, keep their facilities and flight passengers safe, while\nalso reducing serious negative long term environmental impacts,\u201d said Jill\nHunsaker Ryan, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Public Health and\nEnvironment. \u201cAirports must be able to provide fire protection, while\npreventing Coloradoans\u2019 drinking water from chemical contamination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In Michigan more than half of the commercial service\nairports have fielded this equipment as of today,” said Trout. “We\nexpect to have the systems in place at each of our commercial service airports\nvery shortly.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Michigan grant program covers all airports that have a\nfoam testing requirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In an innovative and proactive move, the Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) has approved $400,000 in state aviation funding to assist Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified commercial service airports in Colorado with the acquisition of equipment to minimize the environmental impact of firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals, known as polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In Michigan, MDOT, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colorado","category-michigan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13822,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13818\/revisions\/13822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}