CONCORD, N.H. — Thousands of gallons of unused liquid concentrate intended for use in firefighting foam had been sitting in storage for about two decades at various sites across New Hampshire.
Even as the environmental and health risks associated with aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, became clear, what remained unclear was what firefighting agencies both in the state and nationwide should do with their unwanted inventory.
“This has really been a monkey on the back of fire departments across the country. … The issue was we just couldn’t get rid of it,” said Captain Alan Robidas of the Concord Fire Department.
The foam contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, commonly called “forever chemicals,” that contaminate water sources and could cause cancer. But tossing it in the trash doesn’t exactly eliminate those risks.
“It just became kind of a game of hot potato, where nobody knew what to do,” Robidas said.
But he expressed relief on Aug. 13 after delivering about 125 gallons of AFFF to a designated drop-off site at the New Hampshire Fire Academy, where state leaders gathered to celebrate the culmination of an initiative to resolve this problem.
In 2019, state lawmakers directed the Department of Environmental Services to set up a take-back program to dispose of municipal AFFF inventories. The department signed a contract last year with Revive Environmental Technology to remove and dispose of more than 10,000 gallons. This month, the state is hosting 10 free take-back events across the state for fire departments, local governments, and government-owned airports.
Theodore S. Kitchens, director of the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, said the airport delivered about 720 gallons of AFFF to the state. Although the airport is not currently required by the Federal Aviation Administration to transition to newer PFAS-free foam products, the airport is switching over now to be proactive, he said.
Revive will ship the collected containers back to its facility in Columbus, Ohio, then employ its “PFAS Annihilator” technology, using supercritical water oxidation to destroy the forever chemicals without generating harmful byproducts, according to the company and the state.
Revive chief executive David Trueba said New Hampshire is “setting the standard for responsible environmental stewardship” by eliminating the risk of future contamination and liability. The state’s overall program cost is about $500,000, he said.
“What New Hampshire is paying for is proof of destruction,” he added, noting that Revive carefully tracks and documents the processing of each batch from collection to discharge.
The promise of an environmentally friendly afterlife for unwanted materials laden with toxic chemicals hasn’t always panned out — for example, the supposedly recycled artificial turf from Portsmouth High School’s athletic fields — but state officials said they have carefully vetted Revive and confirmed this “Annihilator” tech is the real deal.
Michael Wimsatt, director of the Department of Environmental Services waste management division, said he personally toured the Revive facility.
“They were actively treating and discharging there, and we have reviewed the data,” Wimsatt said. “They take a number of samples through the treatment process, including at the very end when it’s actually discharged to the municipal waste water system — and those reports have confirmed that these materials are, in fact, being destroyed.”
This story first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.