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Firefighting foam spill at Red Hill facility contaminating soil with 'forever chemicals' [1]
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Date: 2022-11-30
Environmental groups like the Sierra Club of Hawaii are understandably skeptical of the Navy’s containment claims and outraged. “They knew this facility is just 100 feet above our aquifer,” Sierra Club of Hawaii Director Wayne Tanaka told Hawaii News Now. “They know rain, water constantly infiltrates and passes through this red hill facility into the ground and eventually into the groundwater”
The Navy and Health Department are excavating contaminated dirt, though it will be nearly impossible to get that soil free of contaminants. Firefighting foam like AFFF contains what’s known as “forever chemicals,” or PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances). “Any spill or release of PFAS into the environment is a significant concern because of the ability of these chemicals to harm health at very low concentrations,” David Andrews, Ph.D, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, explained. “Cleanup and ongoing testing should occur to ensure no impact on drinking water sources. The sooner PFAS use in firefighting foam ends, the better.”
There is momentum building to end the use of PFAS in firefighting foam. Earlier this year, the PFAS Firefighter Protection Act was introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. If signed into law, it would bar “the manufacture, import, processing, or distribution in commerce of any [AFFF] for use in training and firefighting that contains [PFAS].”
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https://www.dailykos.com/story/2022/11/30/2139088/-Firefighting-foam-spill-at-Red-Hill-facility-contaminating-soil-with-forever-chemicals
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