N.H. to Eliminate Firefighting PFAS with $1M ‘Take-Back’ Program

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(TNS) — New Hampshire hopes to collect 10,000 gallons of firefighting foam containing hazardous “forever chemicals” or PFAS and ship them to Ohio to be annihilated.

Yes, annihilated.

The state’s Department of Environmental Services and Fire Marshal’s Office launched a free statewide take-back program for foam containing PFAs this month with 10 collection dates expected to keep thousands of gallons of foam from contaminating water, soil and air. The foam will be sent to Columbus, Ohio, where a company called Revive Environmental Technology will use its PFAS Annihilator to destroy the forever chemicals without generating harmful PFA byproducts, officials said.

“We’re pleased to be able to enhance public safety, as well as protection of human health and the environment,” DES Commissioner Robert Scott said.

The cost of the take-back program is a little more than $1 million, officials said. In all, 100 fire departments, municipalities and airports are expected to participate. Take-back events started last week in Nashua and Newton, and continued Tuesday in Concord at the New Hampshire Fire Academy’s Aircraft Rescue Training Facility.

The take-back program is open to all fire departments, local governments and government-owned airports in the state. It is not open to private businesses. Upcoming take-back events include Claremont (Thursday), Dover (Monday), Glen ( Aug. 21), Keene ( Aug. 23), Laconia ( Aug. 26), Gorham ( Aug. 28) and Littleton (Aug. 30).

“Time and again, medical researchers have concluded that increased exposure to PFAs puts people’s long-term health at risk. Today’s take-back marks another important step in our joint commitment to protect our natural resources and remove potential, on-the-job dangers for all who work in public safety and live in our communities,” said Commissioner Robert Quinn of the Department of Safety.

In early 2014, for example, officials discovered a drinking water well was contaminated at Pease International Tradeport. The well was immediately shut down and officials worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to bring the well back online.

Firefighters add foam to their water to help smother and extinguish flammable liquids such as oil or gasoline, State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said. For years, departments used aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) that contained high concentrations of PFAS. The state’s new ban on “legacy foams” is possible because new, PFAS-free foams are available.

“Think about kitchen soap, how it helps degrade the grease from cooking. It’s similar in firefighting. We add (foam) to our water at a certain concentration and it helps it stick to the stuff, stick to the wood. AFFF is commonly used in flammable liquid fires. It creates a cover over the fire, helps break down the surface to get in there and penetrate a little bit more,” he said.

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport has delivered 800 gallons of AFFF to the DES for destruction already, Director of Aviation Ted Kitchens said. The airport is transitioning to non-PFAS foam, joining only seven other airports in the U.S. that have fully transitioned, he said.

State legislators approved the AFFF Take Back Program in 2019 and the state contracted Revive to destroy the chemicals in 2023.

“It was important for us to identify a commercially available treatment technology that would effectively destroy the PFAs chemicals rather than place them someplace else, for instance a landfill,” Scott said.