The Delta County Airport will receive a $476,697 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to address PFAS contamination related to the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam. (Daily Press file photo)

MARQUETTE — The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has announced $9 million in grants to 19 municipal airports across the state, including the Delta County Airport and six others in the Upper Peninsula, to address PFAS contamination related to the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam.

The grant funding will be used for a wide range of activities including PFAS testing and monitoring, potential source control and cleanup strategies for groundwater and stormwater and cleaning of firefighting equipment and replacement firefighter turn-out gear. The Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport will receive $150,000.

Commonly known as PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a group of potentially harmful man-made chemicals used in thousands of applications globally, including firefighting foam, food packaging and many other consumer and industrial applications. They do not break down easily in the environment and are known to accumulate in the tissues of living organisms.

According to a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy press release, a total of 21 applications requesting $14.8 million for the $9 million in allocated grant funding were received in response to the request for proposals from the Michigan PFAS Response Team.

Here are the other U.P. airports involved the amount of individual awards:

• Chippewa County International Airport/Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation – $475,000

• Delta County Airport – $476,697

• Ford Dickinson County Airport – $462,600

• Former Marquette County Airport – $1,000,000

• Gogebic-Iron County Airport – $361,400

• Houghton County Memorial Airport – $1,000,000

Elsewhere in the state:

• Battle Creek Executive Airport – $300,000

• Bishop International Airport – $300,000

• Capital Region International Airport – $300,000

• Cherry Capital Airport (Northwest Regional Airport Authority) – $1,000,000

• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport – $370,000

• Gerald R Ford International Airport – $150,000

• Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport – $710,681

• Manistee County Blacker – $150,000

• MBS International Airport – $340,202

• Oakland County International Airport – $264,479

• Pellston Regional Airport – $1,000,000

• Willow Run Airport – $250,000

To learn more about PFAS and what the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team is doing to address PFAS, go to Michigan.gov/PFASresponse.