Firefighters sometimes use a special type of foam to put out fires caused by flammable liquids, like gases or solvents. But that foam contains “forever chemicals,” or PFAs.
The ubiquitous chemicals can build up in your body. They’ve been linked to reproductive problems and some cancers.
Now, the Washington Department of Ecology is helping fire departments get rid of their extra foam, called aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF for short. The department has budgeted about $500,000 to dispose of the foam, said Sean Smith, product replacement coordinator with the Department of Ecology. State funding lasts through June 2027, he said.
“ PFAs is a chemical that, once released into the environment, is very difficult to clean up, very expensive. It's far cheaper to safely dispose of it than to have to clean it up after it's been released,” Smith said.
However, the foam has to be destroyed safely. The Department of Ecology looked at the pros and cons of possible disposal methods and landed on incineration.
“ It's the only technology at this time available to Ecology that can destroy a significant portion of the PFAs mass. That was important to us to make sure that we are eliminating this pollution,” Smith said.
The closest federally permitted incineration facility is in Aragonite, Utah, about an hour west of Salt Lake City. The company is well-versed in shipping hazardous material and takes the foam to the incinerator as it’s collected, Smith said.
“ (Incinerator) temperatures need to be over 2,000 degrees, and there's only a few incinerators in the country that can reach those temperatures,” Smith said.
In addition, the incinerator has to stay that hot for several seconds to ensure the PFAs molecules are destroyed, he said.
The Pasco Fire Department was the first to have its PFAs-containing foam collected through this program. Previously, fire departments could dispose of the foam on their own.
At a collection event on Nov. 21, the Pasco Fire Department shipped off 140 gallons of the foam. Hazardous waste hauler Clean Harbors combined five-gallon buckets of the foam into sealed boxes. The foam was then transported to Spokane, where it was combined with other hazardous waste and shipped to the incinerator.
The Pasco department has worked on getting rid of its foam over the past five or six years, said Mike Maier, Pasco Fire Department battalion chief.
“For the fire department, it’s important to get rid of the PFAs-containing foam, in our case AFFF, because it’s a danger to us, personally, and the environment. We want to make sure that we’re keeping our firefighters safe,” Maier said in a recorded statement from the Pasco event.
Studies show firefighters often have a disproportionate amount of PFAs in their blood, Smith added. Disposing of this foam removes a potential source of PFAs.
The Washington legislature passed a law in 2018 that restricted the manufacturing of this type of foam. In 2020, it could no longer be sold in the state. It also cannot be used in firefighter training.
Firefighting departments, however, can still store the foam and use it in actual emergencies.
So far, Smith said, 95 departments have signed up to have their foam collected and disposed of. The program could still take more, he said. The collection and disposal is free to fire departments.
The Department of Ecology estimates those collections will add up to more than 39,000 gallons of the foam to be destroyed. Smith said he expects that work to be done in about six months.
Right now, fire departments have different-sized stockpiles of the foam, all stored in various containers, Smith said.
“The largest stockpile is about 3,000 gallons, and the smallest is in one or two five-gallon buckets,” he said.
This program could help smaller, volunteer fire departments in rural areas, although most that have signed up are from the Puget Sound area, he said.
Instead of this foam, some fire departments — including Pasco — have switched to Fluorine Free Foams, or FFFs, which have not intentionally added PFAs to the chemical mixture.
