Fire departments in Connecticut are having the toxic foam with the ‘forever chemical’ known as PFAS removed from their fire trucks, nbcconnecticut.com reported. The departments are doing it with the help of state grant money through the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
Here’s how the process works: Fire trucks are brought to Environmental Services in South Windsor for the removal process. The foam that the tank is stored in is built in to the fire trucks so the tank cannot be removed. The Environmental Services team removes the foam from the tank, triple rinses the tank and ships the PFAS foam to a disposal facility out of state, according to the report.
Environmental Services has removed foam from fire apparatus for at least 40 fire departments across the state since July, the report said.
Fire departments then have state-approved options of products to use instead of the PFAS foam that are effective in fighting fires that range from fuel fires to lithium ion battery fires, according to the report.