Groundwater at Cork Airport contaminated with 'forever chemicals'
In 2021, five households near the airport were advised to stop using well water as a precaution and were switched to mains water. Cork Airport continues to monitor the water quality for PFAS chemicals
Groundwater around Cork Airport is being monitored for health and safety since the presence of PFAS chemicals, sometimes called "forever chemicals" as they are some of the longest-lasting synthetic chemicals, was first detected in the summer of 2021
Cork Airport authorities told Tripe + Drisheen they notified Cork City and County Councils as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the HSE immediately after the tests were carried out.
“Do not drink” advisories were issued to five households in the vicinity of the airport as a precaution and those households were subsequently connected to mains fed water drinking supply.
Monitoring of the groundwater is ongoing and results will form part of a hydrogeological assessment to determine what the next steps will be.
What are PFAS and what’s the connection to Cork Airport?
According to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), “per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS for short) are a large class of thousands of synthetic chemicals” that are widely used in everything from non-stick pans to carpets and cosmetics. “However, they are increasingly detected as environmental pollutants and some are linked to negative effects on human health.”
According to Éadaoin Carthy and Ruairi Brannigan from DCU “an estimated 100,000 sites across Europe are believed to be potential sources of PFAS emissions, which 17,000 sites confirmed to be contaminated.
“Among the limited number of PFAS that have been extensively researched, most are deemed to range from moderately to highly toxic. They have been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes, including hormonal disruption, compromised immunity, and reproductive and developmental issues.”
European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, are proposing a ban on all PFAS, except for essential uses.
In mid February, the ECHA released its annual Europe-wide report which contained details of where and when sites have been contaminated with persistent organic pollutants. Three airport sites in Ireland were listed as being contaminated with PFAS chemicals, one of which is Cork Airport. None of the individual airports sites are named in that report.
While the ECHA report is light on details, it noted that a “full site risk assessment report with a view to monitoring progress towards required remediation” is in the works at the airport site.
In a statement to T+D, a spokesperson for Cork Airport acknowledged that “PFAS chemicals are an emerging pollutant of concern” and said the chemicals were used in firefighting foam.
Large amounts of the foam is discharged during firefighting training exercises, which can seep into ground water.
“The approaches to firefighting training, and the products used during training, have changed over the decades. The foams now used at Cork Airport are classified as Fluorine-free and do not contain PFAS chemicals.”
The statement continued that, “Like other airports world-wide, as well as military bases and municipal fire stations, and the many other types of facility which have previously used products containing PFAS, Cork Airport is taking all appropriate steps to manage and address this issue in full.”
At this stage, no details have been released about the remediation process and if it will entail processes such as soil washing and thermal desorption to remove the chemical compounds from the soil. The area around Cork Airport is extensively farmed and as the ECHA notes, PFAS chemicals resist degradation and most are “easily transported in the environment covering long distances away from the source of their release.
A report from the Health and Safety Executive in Britain published in 2023 prioritized working with firefighters to limit the use of PFAS-containing foams.
“There is evidence of occupational exposure and environmental harm that can come from current fire-fighting foams, and we can understand the concerns among firefighters,” said Dr Richard Daniels, director of HSE’s chemicals regulation division.
A survey carried out by the EPA in Ireland in 2020 estimated that the total volume of “PFAS containing foams currently in stock i.e. having been purchased and contained in fire fighting systems and/or held in stock/storage at more than 1.2 m litres”. But, even that is an incomplete picture as the responses to the survey were not compulsory.
With reference to Cork Airport, Tripe + Drisheen were directed by the EPA to bring our enquiries to Cork County Council. The local authority confirmed that Cork City Council notified their counterparts in County Hall on August 30, 2021 about the contamination. Otherwise, the local authority’s response was mostly identical to Cork Airport’s statement.