Eric Tadsen
Under a pending agreement with Dane County, the Air National Guard would continue to provide firefighting services to the Dane County Regional Airport.
When the Dane County board votes tonight on a pending agreement with the military over use of the Dane County Regional Airport, Supv. Yogesh Chawla intends to make a last-ditch effort to limit a clause that absolves the Air National Guard of legal responsibility for future PFAS cleanup.
Chawla plans to introduce an amendment that would limit the indemnification clause of the agreement to future non-military crashes.
“The indemnification clause as drafted in the [agreement] is overly broad, confusing and open to a wide legal interpretation,” he tells Isthmus. He also wants to require a plan from the airport to transition away from using firefighting foam with PFAS.
Under the proposed 10-year agreement, the Guard would continue to provide the same firefighting services to the airport that it provides for its own aircraft.
A group of five supervisors previously tried to add language to limit the indemnification clause of the agreement, but were repeatedly stymied. “We have gotten more assistance from outside partners than our own partners within the county, and that has been disappointing,” says Chawla.
County Executive Joe Parisi says the board should only be voting up or down on the contract. “The role of the county board, as outlined in state statute, is to accept the contract or deny it. It cannot be modified through the legislative process,” he says in a statement to Isthmus.
"Contrary to some recent misleading statements, the only issue this contract addresses is how much the County will be paid for the usage of our airport by the Wisconsin National Guard. That’s it. Dane County can approve this agreement and continue to receive free fire-fighting services from the Wisconsin National Guard — valued in the millions annually — or the County Board can vote the agreement down and, as a result, the County will need to take over and pay for fire-fighting services at the level required by the FAA. This is the only question before the Board."
Parisi also said that concerns about PFAS should not play a role in tonight’s vote. “PFAS contamination is being addressed in a separate manner with the Wisconsin National Guard and the city of Madison. Dane County is committed to that cleanup process, and those efforts will continue outside of this agreement.” Parisi’s statement, however, did not address future PFAS contamination at the airport.
Chawla is frustrated by what he sees as a failure to address supervisors’ concerns.
“This entire process has not been normal,” Chawla says of the fight over the agreement that has played out over months with multiple delayed votes.
Chawla, along with Supvs. Sarah Smith, Heidi Wegleitner, Jacob Wright and Michele Ritt, asked in a Dec. 1 memo that county staff attempt to make changes to the contract before bringing it to the board for a vote. After the negotiators did not seek changes, the board on Dec. 21 voted to officially instruct them to do so. County corporation counsel Carlos Pabellón and other members of his office responded in a Jan. 12 memo, saying that the suggested changes to “limit the indemnification language” are “unnecessary.”
The group of five supervisors have also accused county negotiators of working with the military to press approval of the agreement.
“In general as a county board supervisor, you rely on staff to help you get to the best outcome. Sometimes staff will be an obstacle. In that case, my responsibility is to my constituents,” says Chawla.
PFAS contamination was discovered at the airport in 2018. The indemnification clause is new to the agreement this time around, though not unique to Dane County.
County staff have said they have no choice but to accept the military’s language. When the board considered the agreement on Jan. 18, Pabellón said that the airport joint use agreement is “the best deal we’re going to get.”
“It’s clear that negotiation of a contract, as well as the administration of that contract, falls under the executive function of the county executive,” Pabellón said. Supervisors that night again delayed the vote until Feb. 1.
After county officials declined to seek further changes, Chawla says he approached Air National Guard deputy general counsel Randy Chambers about changing the agreement. After that was unsuccessful, Chawla says he decided to turn to an amendment.
Supervisors have said constituents are still concerned about the possibility of future PFAS contamination, and that despite cleaning up training operations, the airport is still not completely free of PFAS firefighting foam. “If they are responding to an airplane crash with jet fuel, they absolutely, 100%, use PFAS,” says Chawla. “And that’s where some of the confusion has been coming from.”
“I think we should keep fighting for our constituents. What they’ve asked us to approve is arguably unconscionable,” Supv. Wegleitner said before voting to delay a vote on the agreement Jan. 18.
Tonight’s vote is expected to be the issue’s final resolution.
“Regardless of what happens…it will be over,” says Chawla. “I can almost guarantee that.”
