“When it gets into the environment, it doesn’t break down.” The airport investigation began last spring and in July there were elevated levels found in samples taken on airport property.
Brock Callen, a resident of West Tisbury, criticized airport officials for being slow to report those July results publicly.
Long after the crowd left, commissioners mostly applauded the response to this environmental crisis by airport management, but commissioner Richard Knabel said the airport needs to answer that question for the public.
Two weeks ago, airport officials announced three positive results for PFAS in private wells in a neighborhood south of the airport that launched a more aggressive investigation of sampling.
A total of 18 samples have been tested with seven of them above 70 ppt, Ron Myrick, an environmental engineer with Tetra said.
Earlier this week, results from eight additional private wells were released, which showed only one above that guideline.
That sample, taken near Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, was 245 ppt.
Myrick repeated what he said when the contamination became public, that it will take time and more data to determine the best long-term solutions.
The testing has centered on the neighborhood directly south of the airport in West Tisbury, off Edgartown–West Tisbury Road.
Later in the meeting, the airport commission authorized a new contract for Tetra Tech for $105,000.