MADISON (WKOW) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says sampling results show several kinds of PFAS at the Dane County Regional Airport.

The DNR sent a letter to the airport on Friday, October 11 notifying it of the results. The agency is asking the airport to investigate the extent of the contamination and provide a cleanup plan.

Officials say PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals used for decades in numerous products, including non-stick cookware, fast food wrappers, stain-resistant sprays and certain types of firefighting foam. These legacy contaminants have made their way into the environment through spills of PFAS-containing materials, discharges of PFAS-containing wastewater to treatment plants and certain types of firefighting foams.

The DNR says PFAS sampling was required since large airports are known to be potential sources of relatively high concentrations of PFAS (now shown to be true at Dane County Regional Airport) in cases where training and use of firefighting foam occur on the property.