The City of North Bay, Ontario has contracted Jacobs to deliver per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) solutions at its Jack Garland Airport.
Dallas-based Jacobs has been selected by the City of North Bay, Ontario, for environmental assessment activities, development of a remedial design, and engineering consulting services related to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) clean-up at the North Bay Jack Garland Airport.
The airport lands are located atop the North Bay Escarpment and straddle a watershed divide between the Ottawa River to the east and the Great Lakes Basin to the west. Historically, aqueous firefighting foam (AFFF) containing PFAS was used in firefighter training on the site. PFAS are chemically and biologically persistent and highly mobile in the environment.
Since 2017, the city has been working collaboratively with the Department of National Defence, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit to support ongoing testing and monitoring for PFAS in Trout Lake, Lees Creek and residential wells in close proximity to the North Bay Jack Garland Airport lands.
The scope of work for the full-service contract encompasses a site-specific risk assessment; horizonal and vertical sampling in the targeted site remediation areas; development of a risk management/remedial action plan; a treatability study to assess potential remedial options for the impacted soils, drinking water and groundwater; preparation of a remedial design and tender package; technical assistance during construction; and performance monitoring to confirm that remedial objectives are achieved.
For more than a decade, Jacobs' water and environmental technologists have been supporting municipal, national government and commercial clients with PFAS assessment and treatment around the globe. Additionally, since 2013, the company has been working on multiple US Department of Defense research projects for PFAS characterisation, treatment and remediation. Jacobs' technologists and scientists work with the world's leading academics to better characterise, understand behaviour and develop increasingly effective clean-up technologies for PFAS-contaminated media, with a focus on natural treatment alternatives.
The company's in situ green and sustainable remediation approach harnesses big data to identify a diverse and highly specialised microbial ecosystem of naturally occurring bacteria and fungi that work in concert to break down and/or decrease PFAS contaminants in soil, groundwater and other media.
