Almost 14, 000 litres of it came from 117 fire ministries across the state as part of an Ohio effort to gather and dispose of foam that contains harmful forever chemicals.
This includes 10 fire departments in , Greene,  , Butler , and , Clark , counties, according to the , Ohio Environmental Protection Agency , ( EPA ).
The Aqueous Film Forming Foam ( AFFF ) Takeback Program is operated by the Ohio EPA, the , State Fire Marshal’s Office , and science and technology company Battelle. The program is open to all , Ohio , fire departments, regional governments, state licensed fire and EMS education institutions and government-owned flights.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ( PFAS ) became a common ingredient in firefighting foam at airports and military installations all over the nation. A group of potent, harmful substances developed to be heat and other factors have been compiled into PFAS. Due to the strong bonds between bromine and carbon atoms in their chemical composition, PFAS are extremely challenging to break down. For this reason, they are often referred to as “forever substances”.
Research shows PFAS have connections to a few kinds of cancer, thyroid function, sexual injury and other health issues.
The doable job — a$ 3 million program that launched this spring — is funded with lawsuit cash that , Ohio , received as part of the country’s polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) police case against , Monsanto, which was filed by then-Attorney General DeWine in 2018. The program launched at an occasion at , Wright State University ‘s , Calamityville college this spring.  , Ohio , officers then said the programme was the first of its kind in the country.
In 2022,  , Ohio , Gov.  , Mike DeWine , signed a legislation to boycott the use of AFFF at fire training centres, a costs first introduced by state Rep.  , Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp.
Fire agencies from , Butler,  , Clark , and , Greene , districts were included in the program’s second round.
Ohio EPA director , Anne Vogel , said the hundreds of gallons of foaming collected represent” only a drop in the bucket” of what exists in the position. According to the Ohio EPA, the programme has registered 72, 469 litres of AFFF in the state.
Some place fire agencies, including , Dayton Fire Department, look toward collection activities. The fire department submitted its request in March to participate in the Ohio AFFF Takeback Program, but has n’t yet been notified that it has been selected to participate in a collection event, said , Brad French,  , Dayton ‘s , assistant fire chief.
Fire departments and other participating organizations must sign up with the Ohio EPA to get scheduled for a follow-up set event. More selection events will be made known by the Ohio EPA.
A , Dayton Daily News , investigation last year found that 15 of the region’s public water systems, which supply drinking water to hundreds of thousands of residents, have levels of PFAS that exceed a new legal limit of 4 parts per trillion ( ppt ) for the group of chemicals.
A major contribution to water leakage from PFAS in this area is runoff from fire foam used over decades at , Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , and the , Dayton International Airport , because of its capacity to destroy jet fuel fires. Water quality experts have noted that this is one reason PFAS levels are especially high under the foundation.
Through the programme, AFFF is exposed to superheated water corrosion, which effectively destroys AFFF and PFAS-contaminated waste to non-detectable rates. After almost 20 years of conducting research into PFAS, the technologies used in the plan was produced by science and technology firm Batelle.
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( c ) 2024 the Dayton Daily News
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
