VIEW THIS MAP FULLSCREEN IN A NEW WINDOWThe ten square-mile Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site is depicted using orange diagonal lines. The site includes Tucson International Airport, Sections of the Tohono O'odham Nation (San Xavier District), Tucson and South Tucson residential areas, and Air Force Plant #44 Raytheon Missile Systems Company (AFP44). The site has contaminated groundwater and soil from former aircraft and electronics manufacturing and aircraft maintenance, fire drill trainings, and the leaking of chemicals from unlined landfills.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached a settlement agreement with the Tucson Airport Authority (TAA) to address groundwater contamination near the Tucson Superfund site.
The agreement, known as an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent, requires the TAA to investigate the presence of per-and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals known as PFAS in the Tucson aquifer that originated from the Tucson International Airport Area (TIAA).
Michael Montgomery, Director of Superfund and Emergency Management Division at EPA, said the commercial airport authority was involved at the outset.
“This agreement that we reached was with the commercial airport and they have agreed to do the appropriate investigatory work. They have agreed to look into cleaning up at the source of their facility and also, importantly, they’re going to be sitting down with Tucson Water and I think trying to work out some agreement on the cost of treatment at the TARP facility,” Mongomery said.
The Tucson Area Remediation Project (TARP) facility treats contaminated groundwater from the Tucson Superfund Site.
While the agreement is a step forward, EPA continues to wait for a cleanup plan from the U.S. Air Force regarding PFAS.
In May, the agency issued an emergency order calling on the military to address the imminent health risks posed by the contaminants.
Negotiations between the parties are ongoing.
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