Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.
Brian Flickinger, FlickingerB@Michigan.gov or 231-876-4456.
Cherry Capital Airport (Airport), located at 727 Fly Don't Drive in Traverse City, is a current Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139 certified commercial service airport that has used Class B Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF). AFFF is a firefighting foam that is known to contain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The airport received PFAS grant funding from Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to assess areas of historic AFFF storage and use. The airport identified and investigated the soil and groundwater at various locations where AFFF was stored or used for testing or areas identified as previous dumps. Soil contamination was identified at three locations. Groundwater contamination was identified at all five locations and four locations were above applicable cleanup criteria.
The direction of groundwater flow at the site is generally to the northeast. There were 18 residential drinking water wells located within close proximity to the airport. EGLE, in coordination with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Grand Traverse County Health Department (GTCHD), sampled the private wells in November 2020. Nine of the 18 residential drinking water wells sampled contained PFAS exceeding the drinking water criteria. The other nine residential drinking water wells contained PFAS but all were below criteria. All residential drinking water well owners were notified of their sample results and provided water filters or bottled water from the GTCHD. Connection of the 18 residential drinking water wells to the East Bay Township municipal water system occurred from March 1, 2021 through March 19, 2021 through a $150,000 grant secured through EGLE and $85,000 from Grand Traverse County.
PFAS were discovered in a groundwater sample from a residential well located 280 feet from East Grand Traverse Bay (Bay). Additional assessment is needed to determine the risk to the Bay.
Content posted October 2021.
On October 21, 2020, bottled water was provided to 18 residential well owners due to PFAS groundwater contamination identified along Parsons Avenue. November 4 and 5, 2020, EGLE, in coordination with DHHS and the GTCHD, began sampling the residential wells. On November 13, 2020, EGLE was informed that nine of the 18 residential drinking water wells had PFAS above drinking water criteria. The other 9 residential drinking water wells contained PFAS but all were below criteria. All residential drinking well owners were notified of their sample results and provided water filters or water coolers from the GTCHD during the first 2 weeks of December. Connection of the 18 residential drinking water wells to the East Bay Township municipal water system occurred from March 1, 2021 through March 19, 2021, through a $150,000 grant secured through EGLE and $85,000 from Grand Traverse County.
On November 29, 2021 the Airport is scheduled to submit the Fourth Quarterly Groundwater Report.
