Hi there —

I'm Oliver Morrison, environment and health reporter for PublicSource. As we launch an important package of stories on the potential for PFAS contamination at the Pittsburgh airport, we thought you'd appreciate a look behind the scenes.

Until last October, when I attended a conference in Flint, Michigan, I had never even heard of PFAS chemicals. There, I learned that Michigan began addressing PFAS contamination more quickly and more thoroughly than most other states. Its politicians had already received so much heat for lead contamination, it seemed they didn’t want to look like they were behind the curve on PFAS contamination.

When I returned to Pittsburgh, I learned that our state had set up a PFAS task force a couple weeks earlier.

Months later, in April, I learned that the two military bases next to the Pittsburgh International Airport were contaminated with PFAS chemicals. The source of the PFAS: firefighting foam. The report said it had likely spread beyond the borders of the bases.

We published a story on the contamination and, not long after, I received an email from a former firefighter who told me the airport used the foam a lot more than the military bases did.

From there, I found a list of every firefighter who had ever worked for the airport union through 2007 and called as many of them as I could. Most of the numbers didn’t work, were owned by someone else or the person had the same name as the retired firefighter I was trying to reach. I called more than 50 numbers.

Occasionally the right person answered. The five former firefighters I spoke to were happy to talk about their work and curious about why I was so focused on firefighting foam. I told them about the risks of PFAS; these toxic chemicals are associated with a range of cancers and serious illnesses in humans, even if exposed to very small amounts. It was mostly news to them.

When I reached out to airport officials, they gave a statement. The spokesperson wrote that they changed to a safer foam (though it still contains PFAS) and were minimizing impacts. They denied my request for an interview, something that would happen more than 10 times during my reporting.

I thought the public deserved to know more. Directors of other airports got on the phone with me to talk about PFAS contamination and the actions they took. PFAS contamination doesn’t go away on its own and it can eventually spread to drinking water sources of nearby residents. Many airports and military bases nationwide are investigating for PFAS contamination.

I showed up to the board meeting of the Allegheny County Airport Authority in June. The room was standing room only. After it was over, I approached the airport’s director and waited for my turn to ask her a question.

Check out the below video to hear what she told me, and read our new stories out this morning.