Bay City’s Fire Station has operated as a fire station since the days of horse drawn fire wagons. As a fire-fighting training location, Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) was used in training. While demolishing a portion of the Fire Station, a drum filled with AFFF was discovered. Bay City notified EGLE and arranged for the disposal of the drum. Upon discovery of AFFF at the Fire Station, Bay City became concerned that the fire station may be a source of PFAS in the combined sanitary storm sewer.
AKT Peerless has undertaken critical actions to address PFAS contamination at the Station ensuring environmental protection and regulatory compliance. These efforts include overseeing the excavation of PFAS-contaminated soil and collecting soil samples to verify the adequacy of removal, collecting sediment samples from catch basins in the nearby combined sewer, and reviewing historical records to evaluate the layout and flow of the combined storm and sanitary sewer system. These actions aim to address concerns about the potential for PFAS migration into Bay City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the risk of direct discharges into the Saginaw River during heavy rain events due to the combined sewer system.
Based on the findings from the interim actions, AKT Peerless has developed a comprehensive plan to further mitigate PFAS migration and contamination. This includes conducting visual inspections with submersible cameras to identify potential migration pathways, expanding sediment sampling within the combined sewer system, and increasing soil excavation efforts to eliminate the risk of PFAS-contaminated soil entering the sewer system via stormwater runoff. Additionally, monitoring wells will be installed to enable groundwater assessment and ongoing monitoring. By adhering to EGLE’s PFAS Sampling Guidance Document, ITRC best practices, and Laboratory Methods 537 modified and ASTM D7979, AKT Peerless ensures that all sampling and analysis produce reliable and defensible results. Following the next phase of investigation, a comprehensive cleanup action will be implemented to remove PFAS contamination from the combined storm and sanitary sewer system.
