Over the past few weeks, lorries carrying large components and special transport loads have been coming and going to Tweeduizend El. They delivered parts to the site where DEME is currently constructing the soil treatment facility for Schiphol, next to the Zwanenburgbaan Runway. If everything goes according to plan, the facility will begin treating approximately 200,000 tonnes of PFAS‑contaminated soil stored at the adjacent depots this summer.
Schiphol heeft onderzoek laten doen naar PFAS in de bodem en naar de waterkwaliteit op het luchthaventerrein, omdat Schiphol veel waarde hecht aan een veilige en gezonde werk- en leefomgeving op en rond de luchthaven. Het historisch bodemonderzoek laat zien dat op verschillende locaties (mogelijk) sprake is van verontreinigde bodem en dat deze verontreinigingen zorgen voor verhoogde concentraties in het oppervlaktewater op de luchthaven. Op twee plekken waar het water in contact komt met water buiten Schiphol is de waterkwaliteit niet goed genoeg. Voor de meeste locaties geldt dat vervolgonderzoek nodig is. De luchthaven werkt aan een plan van aanpak om de verspreiding van PFAS zoveel mogelijk te voorkomen en passende maatregelen te nemen.
Construction work on the site for the Soil Treatment Facility for PFAS‑contaminated soil at Tweeduizend El is in full swing. If everything goes according to plan, contractor BAM will hand over the site this spring, allowing DEME to begin assembling the Soil Treatment Facility.
In May 2025, the Dorpsraad Badhoevedorp and Schiphol reached an agreement to conduct additional groundwater monitoring at the temporary storage facilities for PFAS-containing soil located next to the Zwanenburgbaan runway. As part of this agreement, Schiphol will periodically check whether the quality of the groundwater is being affected by the storage of PFAS-containing soil. The first inspection took place in August. The results show that there have been no exceedances of the agreed signal or action thresholds.
In November, Schiphol will relocate PFAS-contaminated soil from temporary storage facility TTOP1 to temporary storage facility TTOP5. TTOP5 is the designated site for the future Soil Treatment Facility. The soil currently being moved will be remediated there in due course. The Soil Treatment Facility is scheduled to become operational in summer 2026.
In the corner between the Zwanenburg runway and Tweeduizend El, Schiphol is working on the soil treatment facility for PFAS-contaminated soil. Since July, contractor BAM has been actively engaged on site. While the initial works were mainly underground, more above-ground activity is now becoming visible.
At the end of May, the permit for the soil treatment facility next to the Zwanenburgbaan Runway was finalised. With the soil treatment facility, Schiphol intends to clean the PFAS-containing soil that is currently in storage facilities (the TTOPs). The soil comes from (construction) projects at Schiphol and has become polluted as a result of PFAS-containing firefighting foam that was used in the past. In early July, we will start work on TTOP5 for the construction of the soil treatment facility.
Schiphol is replanting 750 birch trees near PFAS storage sites and testing a rabbit grid to prevent damage to protective foil.
We have a pretty good idea of where PFAS can be found at Schiphol. We have been checking for PFAS in the ground during work and construction projects since 2016 and we also know the locations of larger incidents (such as an aircraft landing next to the runway) and the (former) training grounds where PFAS-containing firefighting foam was used. However, to make sure that we have everything mapped out, we started additional in-depth investigations this summer.
17 juli was er een informatiebijeenkomst over onze aanpak PFAS-houdende grond op Schiphol. In het dorpshuis “De Vluchthaven” in Lijnden konden de circa 75 aanwezige omwonenden van Schiphol hun vragen stellen en zorgen uiten over de opslagplaatsen voor PFAS-houdende grond en de plannen voor de grondreinigingsinstallatie. Een aantal sprekers gaf toelichting en er was een informatiemarkt. ‘Naast informeren is het doel van deze avond luisteren,’ aldus Sybren Hahn (Executive Director Infrastructure), die de aftrap deed.
The observant viewer may have already seen them: excavators and shovels in the area where the temporary storage facilities (TTOPs) are for PFAS-containing soil. Let us tell you more about the work we’ve been doing.
Op woensdag 17 juli organiseert Schiphol een informatieavond over PFAS-houdende grond.
We put pen to paper for Hallobadhoevedorp.nl to answer the ten most frequently asked questions.
On the evening of Monday 11 March, the North Sea Canal Environment Agency (OD NZKG) organised an information session about the storage of PFAS-containing soil at the north-western side of the Schiphol site and the cleaning of this soil. Schiphol was of course present at this session, for which we made two fact sheets (in Dutch).
What to do with the soil containing PFAS that we have stored at Schiphol in temporary storage facilities? We can of course dispose of the soil, but we would much rather choose a circular solution that fits our zero-waste objective. After almost two years of research and testing, we think we have found that solution.