Lang
12/12/23
The Eastern Iowa Airport commission has agreed to pay $1.1 million for a rural Swisher property affected by chemicals used to fight runway fires.
Since February, airport officials have been in talks with Paul and Nikki Hynek of Walford Road to either purchase their land or provide the family with a new well. The property, valued at $770,000, sits just south of the airport.
The agreement, which the airport commission approved Monday night, will allow the Hyneks to continue renting the house with a mutual release and hold harmless agreement. The University of Iowa provided the family with a reverse osmosis system after testing their well in 2020.
Testing on the property done by the UI came back positive for per- and polyfluorinated substances — or PFAS. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says no level of PFAS is safe, and the levels found in the Hynek well were three times the previous safety limit set by the EPA.
PFAS has been used to fight airport fires since the 1960’s.
The UI began offering free testing for residents living near the airport in 2020 after the university’s Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination realized PFAS could be a danger to the airport’s neighbors. Another 20 nearby properties are currently being tested, with results expected to be released in April.
The purchase of the Hynek property is part of the commission’s plan to eventually own all property between the southern border of the airport and Walford Road.