Palmerston North Airport PFAS Investigations

PDP has been assisting Palmerston North Airport to manage the impacts of residual PFAS contamination from the historical use of fire-fighting foams since 2018.  Initially investigations were undertaken to identify and assess the impacts on groundwater, surface water and local kai, such as eels and watercress, to ensure the effects on drinking water, human health and local stream ecology are minimised. Ongoing monitoring and mitigation measures were developed to ensure the risks remain minimal. 

In order to facilitate the ongoing development of the site, PDP assisted the airport in obtaining a global consent for the management of PFAS contaminated soils.  This required the development of site-specific trigger levels for PFOS and PFOA, targeted to ensure local sensitive environmental receptors are protected, and a contaminant mass balance of the site to determine which soils require treatment and which can be safely reused within the airport, under an approved management plan.  PDP is currently assisting the airport with stakeholder engagement, the effective use of the global consent and completing validation testing of treated soils, when required.