Salzburg airport plans €50m cleanup of PFAS contamination
Salzburg airport is preparing a second phase of remediation for soil and groundwater contaminated by PFAS from past firefighting foam exercises, at an estimated total cost of around €50 million.
Salzburg airport is getting ready for the second phase of cleanup at a site where soil and groundwater are contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The work is expected to cost around 50 million euros, with up to 30 million euros coming from Austria's contaminated site remediation fund.
The contamination comes from earlier exercises with firefighting foams containing PFAS. Surveys found about 50,000 cubic metres of affected soil and a groundwater pollution plume roughly 3.5 kilometres long. The airport says the public drinking water supply is unaffected.
Plans call for an underground sealing wall up to 25 metres deep, more wells, a new groundwater treatment facility, and sealing about 56,000 square metres of ground surface. Main construction is set for 2028 and 2029, with completion expected in 2030.
The permits and the legal basis for disposing of the contaminated soil are not yet in place, so the airport has already set up an interim storage site.
Sources
- aerotelegraph.comFlughafen Salzburg plant 50 Millionen Euro für Sanierung von PFAS-Altlasten