A new technology for combatting PFAS contamination is getting $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to help transition the system from the laboratory to field implementation.
Enspired Solutions, a Lansing-based company owned by a woman, announced the grant Monday, continuing a partnership with the DOD that began in 2023.
Founded in 2021, the company has developed a PFAS-destruction technology called “PFASigator” that uses ultraviolet light and a proprietary reagent mix to activate a reaction that destroys PFAS in water, returning PFAS to non-toxic components without the need for off-site disposal.
This new contract will enable Enspired Solutions to transition their PFAS destruction technology from lab scale to field scale, company officials said.
The first phase of the new project will begin this summer at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. A team of specialists will use the PFASigator system to decontaminate a fire truck, simultaneously rinsing the truck and destroying PFAS chemicals onsite.
Phase No. 2 will use the system to destroy PFAS in groundwater concentrate at another (unnamed) defense department facility.
If and when the new technology may be available for use at PFAS-contaminated sites in Michigan is not yet known.
Company officials said their PFASigator system has several advantages over other, widely used PFAS treatment methods, such as granular activated carbon capture, ion exchange, or reverse osmosis, which can result in re-release of PFAS into the environment.
The scientific name for the technology is “photo-activated reductive defluorination.”
In 2021, Enspired Solutions won an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the defense department for its energy-efficient, cost-effective approach to PFAS destruction.
“We have been working for years to create this highly efficient PFAS destruction technology and are actively partnering with water utilities to ensure that drinking water is safe,” said Enspired Solutions CEO and Michigan resident Denise Kay.
What is PFAS?
PFAS, formerly called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is a family of more than 3,000 synthetic chemicals that have been used in consumer and industrial products since the 1950s. They are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down in the environment or human body.
Government and university studies have associated PFAS chemicals with health problems, such as cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage, reproductive impairment and type 2 diabetes in women.
The manufacture and use of PFAS chemicals was largely phased out in the United States between 2006 and 2024, although some overseas companies still use it today, according to the National Institutes of Health.
PFAS can enter groundwater in a variety of ways, such as run-off from certain firefighting foams used at military bases and many airports over the years. Other contamination pathways include industrial discharges, land application of contaminated sludge, sewage plant discharges and leaching from landfills.
A widespread problem
More than 11,000 sites in Michigan have potentially been contaminated with PFAS, according the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, making the state No. 1 in the country for PFAS sites, according to the Michigan Environmental Council.
Nearly 2 million Michiganders have some level of the toxic chemicals, studies show.
However, the amount of PFAS in soil and groundwater varies greatly. A much smaller number of sites in Michigan have high levels PFAS contamination, state officials said.
One reason for Michigan’s top PFAS ranking is that the state launched a comprehensive testing program in 2018, testing virtually all public drinking water supplies, as well as water at schools, lakes and streams. Other states have tested far less, with a few exceptions like Minnesota.
Closer to home, state officials identified PFAS contamination in wells adjacent to Cherry Capital Airport near a residential section of East Bay Township, according to a 2021 EGLE report.
“Firefighting foam containing PFAS was stored and used at the United States Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City from 1978 to the current date and at the Cherry Capital Airport since the 1970s,” the report stated. “Annual testing of the firefighting equipment resulted in discharges of the Firefighting foam containing PFAS.
“Groundwater sample results from the temporary monitoring wells showed PFAS in all 10 sampling locations,” the report added. “The contaminants were found from 15 to 54 feet below the ground surface… (in concentrations) above the groundwater cleanup criteria of 16 (parts per trillion), with concentrations ranging from below detection limits to 17,900 ppt.”
EGLE officials noted that the groundwater at that site generally flows in a northeasterly direction toward East Grand Traverse Bay. The contamination was found approximately 2,050 feet from the bay.
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