Statewide firefighting foam takeback program providing collection in Butler County
Twenty-six fire departments from eight southwest Ohio counties are turning in approximately 3,275 gallons of AFFF material containing “forever chemicals” to be destroyed.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) Takeback Program back in March that uses PFAS Annihilator® technology developed by Battelle, which is headquartered in Columbus, to destroy hazardous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting foam to non-detectable levels through the process of supercritical water oxidation.
It’s a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country.
“We knew this was a need for fire stations across Ohio, but it turns out we underestimated the quantity of AFFF still out there,” Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel said. “Thankfully, Gov. DeWine supported and funded this statewide take-back initiative, allowing us to help departments by getting this material off the shelf and destroying it.”
The takeback for Southwest Ohio began at the Butler County Fairgrounds in Hamilton on Sunday and continues through Tuesday to collect firefighting foam from area fire departments that preregistered for the event.
AFFF is primarily used by fire departments to smother flammable liquid fires, but its high concentrations of PFAS compounds resist typical environmental degradation processes and cause long-term contamination of water, soil and air.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, exposure to PFAS has been found to affect the immune system, increase the risk of certain cancers, impact fertility and affect the growth and behavior of infants and children. In 2022, Governor DeWine signed a bill banning the use of AFFF in firefighter training exercises and, as a result, many fire departments are using PFAS-free alternatives to extinguish flammable liquid fires.
The program, which will collect approximately 15,000 gallons of AFFF throughout the state, is funded with $3 million in settlement money that Ohio received as part of the state’s polychlorinated biphenyl enforcement case against Monsanto, filed by then-Attorney General DeWine in 2018.
Battelle's PFAS Annihilator technology uses extreme heat and pressure to chemically transform PFAS into carbon dioxide and inert salt, destroying the PFAS and leaving behind no harmful byproducts or residual contamination. This technology differs from other AFFF disposal methods, such as incineration, which destroys the foam but releases that PFAS into the air, or landfilling, which results in contaminated landfill leachate.
The foam will be destroyed by Battelle spinoff company and subcontractor Revive Environmental Technology.
The creation of the AFFF Takeback Program is the latest effort by the DeWine-Husted Administration to address PFAS contamination in Ohio. In 2019, Governor DeWine ordered the development of a PFAS Action Plan to sample Ohio's public drinking water systems for certain PFAS compounds, and last year, Ohio launched a statewide survey to measure the prevalence of PFAS in large rivers.
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