Fire Training Academy – AFFF

H&H is providing environmental consulting services for a regional fire training academy in North Carolina impacted with per-and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in soil, surface water, sediment, saprolite groundwater and deep bedrock groundwater.  Based on a request by NC DEQ in 2018 due to use of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) for fire training, PFAS analysis was added to the annual groundwater sampling parameter list. Since 2018 and with multiple NC DEQ directives, H&H has conducted the following to address PFAS impacted soil, groundwater, and surface water:

• Removed and disposed of obsolete AFFF chemical drums and totes
• Sampled over 40 on-Site and off-Site saprolite and bedrock monitoring wells, five water supply wells, and multiple surface water bodies for PFAS
• Collected over 50 soil samples to assess soil and sediment PFAS impacts
• Found cost effective ways to manage investigation derived wastes
• Evaluated soil to groundwater leaching using SPLP analysis at various depths in the vadose zone
• Assessed fractures in open-hole bedrock monitoring wells with downhole geophysics and packer testing of fractures transmitting appreciable water
• Assessed the bedrock aquifer utilizing a systematic approach to depths up to 285 ft
• Obtained regulatory buy-in to conduct the assessment in phases to spread the costs over time
• Abandoned water supply wells containing PFAS constituents and assisted with property connections to the municipal water supply
• Assisted with cleaning former concrete fire training pads and an associated AFFF foam collection UST
• Confirmed that new training foams are PFAS-free
• Evaluated groundwater PFAS diagnostic ratios to evaluate other potential downgradient (off-Site) sources for the PFAS contamination