The Eastern Iowa Airport board to consider buying property with PFAS contamination

The Eastern Iowa Airport’s governing board will consider buying a residential property valued at $770,000 because the home has a drinking water well with high levels of toxic chemicals found in firefighting foam used for decades at the airport.

The Airport Commission, which meets Monday, will consider a resolution to buy 3400 Walford Road, a Swisher home owned by Paul and Nikki Hynek.

The commission also will consider a deal to let the Hyneks continue to live in the property for up to three years after the sale and a mutual release and hold harmless agreement, according to the panel’s agenda.

However, documents under consideration — including the proposed purchase price — will not be released until after the meeting, airport spokeswoman Pam Hinman said Friday.

The airport, which is owned by the city of Cedar Rapids and operated by the five-member appointed commission, does not receive property tax money and is self-sufficient.

The deal would resolve more than a year of negotiations with the couple, who learned in 2020 water from their well had per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels 3.5 times more than a previous lifetime limit set by the federal government.

The Hyneks’ well was among 14 wells the University of Iowa Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination tested in 2020 based on Director David Cwiertny’s hunch that PFAS might be found in private wells near the airport.

For decades, firefighters at The Eastern Iowa Airport — and airports across the country — were required to use firefighting foam that contains PFAS because it has unique properties for containing fuel fires.

“We absolutely have it. We absolutely have sprayed it in testing,” Airport Director Marty Lenss said last year about the foam. But since PFAS can be found in many other substances, including fertilizer, stain-resistant clothing, carpet, cleaning products, plastic, paints and some bio waste, “it’s difficult to identify the source in groundwater in general.”

Scientists have since learned even small amounts of PFAS may harm human growth and development and affect reproduction, thyroid function, the immune system and liver function, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Although the airport was required to keep the foam on hand until recently, staff stored the foam where it could not contaminate soil or water and firefighters no longer tested with it, officials said.

The airport in August submitted to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources a plan for determining the extent of PFAS contamination on the airport grounds and surrounding area. The plan said the airport would test 20 private wells, groundwater and soil for PFAS this fall and submit a final report to the Iowa DNR by April.

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The Hyneks first approached Cedar Rapids about extending city water to their house, Lenss said last year. That option was ruled out because there are too few homeowners in the area and the water line would become stagnant without regular flushing, he said.

“When we first approached them and initiated conversations with them and it was clear the city water wasn’t going to be an option, on the (Airport) Commission side, we began to provided bottled water service to the house and still do today,” Lenss said last year.

The UI purchased a reverse osmosis system for the Hyneks after the 2020 tests.

The Hyneks have wanted the airport to buy the property the couple purchased in 2015. The 2.9-acre parcel south of the airport is valued at $770,000, according to the Linn County Assessor. That includes a 3,357-square-foot house built in 2019 valued at $700,000, an outdoor fireplace added in 2015 and a 2,520-square-foot barn built in 1914.

Private wells at other houses near the Hyneks also have had confirmed PFAS, but not at as high of levels at the Hyneks, the UI reported. Ongoing concerns about the chemicals in soil and groundwater have continued to hold up the airport’s permit to extend a well field for a geothermal heating system in a new terminal expansion.

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