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A Green Collaboration: O'Hare Airport and Republic Services Join Forces to Remediate New Runway Site
To eliminate the PFAS-contaminated soil at O’Hare, The Chicago Department of Aviation partnered with Republic Services to safely and compliantly remove the contaminated materials.Byline: BTB Editor
April 10, 2024 / Time to read: 5 minChicago O’Hare International Airport is the
Unearthed Challenge: PFAS Soil Contamination
In 2020, O’Hare completed construction of a new runway, bringing its total to 8 runways. But before the project started, The Chicago Department of Aviation needed help tackling
PFOA and PFOS are hazardous to human health and are no longer in use. But they’re often found near runways because they were used in a common fire suppressant called aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). This suppressant was especially effective for putting out flammable liquid fires such as those caused by jet fuel.
To eliminate the PFAS-contaminated soil at O’Hare, The Chicago Department of Aviation needed a partner to safely and compliantly remove the contaminated materials without holding up the expansion project.
Republic Services to the Rescue: Expert Handling of Hazardous Waste
The Chicago Department of Aviation called in US Ecology, a recent Republic Services acquisition with a long and successful track record of providing PFAS remediation and disposal services in the Midwest. We removed and transported 7-8 truckloads of PFAS-contaminated soil each day of the project and disposed of it in our Subtitle C landfill in Belleville, MI.
A total of 200 tons of contaminated soil were removed, allowing O’Hare to move forward with its expansion project on schedule.
Expanding Horizons: Republic Services' Continued Partnership
Our partnership continues today with ongoing waste transportation and disposal services for O’Hare. While serving other customers in the area, we completed a project that involved transporting 670 tons of PFAS-contaminated soil from Wisconsin onto rail cars to be disposed of in our arid climate Subtitle C landfill in Grandview, ID. We’ve also worked on a variety of Superfund projects.
US Ecology: Pioneering PFAS Waste Solutions
The team at Republic Services delivers single-source waste expertise to government organizations, the private sector and environmental engineering and consulting firms. We provide remediation and disposal of PFAS and other hazardous waste, including arid-climate secure disposal, deep-well injection, thermal treatment and transportation.
