Battelle hazardous materials technician Craig Healy takes a load of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) from the Little Hocking Volunteer Fire Department as part of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency AFFF Takeback program event at the Washington County Fairgrounds Tuesday. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

Fire departments from around the region came to Washington County this week to turn over firefighting foam containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for destruction.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency held an Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) Takeback Program event at the Washington County Fairgrounds on Monday and Tuesday, according to an Ohio EPA media release.

The takeback program was announced by Gov. Mike DeWine in March and it will collect approximately 15,000 gallons of AFFF throughout the state for destruction using PFAS Annihilator technology developed by Battelle, which is headquartered in Columbus, to destroy PFAS in AFFF using “extreme heat and pressure” to change the PFAS into carbon dioxide and inert salt, which leaves behind no harmful byproducts or residual contamination, the release said.

According to its website, Battelle is an independent nonprofit that focuses on using science and technology for social and economic impact in infrastructure, the environment, health and national security.

“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 in the release. “Thankfully, Gov. DeWine supported and funded this statewide takeback initiative, allowing us to help departments by getting this material off the shelf and destroying it.”

Hazardous materials technician Evan Duncan, left, hazardous waste operator Keith Trumpie, center, and hazardous materials technician Craig Healy, with Battelle, get a load of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) ready to be hauled away for destruction as part of an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency AFFF Takeback program event at the Washington County Fairgrounds on Tuesday. Area fire department brought the AFFF to the fairgrounds. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

According to a PFAS in Drinking Water Fact Sheet from the Ohio Department of Health, PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals used in manufacturing many items to make them waterproof, stain resistant or nonstick and are also used in products like cosmetics, fast food packing and AFFF.

“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,” the release said.

AFFF was banned in Ohio from use in firefighter training and exercises in 2022 by DeWine

A Batelle crew was onsite Monday and Tuesday to receive the AFFF and load it onto a truck to be hauled away.

The release said the AFFF will be destroyed by Batelle’s spinoff company and subcontractor Revive Environmental Technologies.

According to the release 16 fire departments from eight Southeastern Ohio counties were set to take part in the takeback event and the Ohio EPA expected to receive approximately 2,906 gallons of AFFF containing PFAS.

The Ohio EPA said Tuesday evening via email, the fire departments that participated in the two-day event were: the Marietta Fire Department, Beverly Volunteer Fire Department, Devola Volunteer Fire Company, Warren Township Volunteer Fire Department, Little Hocking Volunteer Fire Department, Grandview Township Volunteer Fire Department, Warren Township Volunteer Fire Department, Athens Fire Department, Caldwell Volunteer Fire Department, Barnesville Volunteer Fire Department, Waterloo Volunteer Fire Department, Rome Township Volunteer Fire Department, Beallsville Volunteer Fire Department and Chillicothe Volunteer Fire Department.

The release said the AFFF Takeback program is funded by $3 million from a settlement between the state of Ohio and Monsanto Co. concerning polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

According to an Ohio Attorney General press release, the settlement was reached in March 2022 and was for $80 million for Monsanto’s manufacture of PCBs from 1935 to 1977 and associated environmental damage in Ohio.

Visit https://epa.ohio.gov/search/?search_query=AFFF+takeback to learn more about the AFFF Takeback program.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com