Non PFAS firefighting foams may become mandatory in Alaska

Описание: Non-PFAS firefighting foams may become mandatory in Alaska
Governor Dunleavy is taking a second look at an idea he vetoed a couple years ago, as the Alaska Legislature recently passed a bill requiring a phase-out of firefighting foams with PFAS.

These forever chemicals have been used since the 1950s and have been linked to significant health problems and over time spread into drinking water and soils, as well as most American’s bodies according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Old firefighting foams from Code Red kits are credited with poisoning drinking water in rural Alaska by bill sponsor Juneau Senator Jesse Kiel.
The bill authorizes a program to remove PFAS firefighting foams from villages with fewer than 2,000 people, and a switch to PFAS-free foams by the start of 2025.

There there are nearly 500 sites that the state Department of Environmental Conservation has identified in Alaska as being contaminated with PFAS compounds. The Alaska DEC PFAS contaminated sites map doesn’t designate any sites in Seward, but Anchorage, Kenai and Soldotna have contaminated sites noted.

The bill also requires the state fire marshal to make a determination if an alternative PFAS-free firefighting foam is available, safe and effective for fighting the especially intense fires that may occur at oil and gas facilities.
The federal government has recently enacted the FAA Reauthorization Act which includes a $350 million fund that can assist 26 Alaskan airports in disposal of PFAS chemicals and replacing their fire fighting equipment according to Senator Lisa Murkowski’s office.

Find the Alaska DEC PFAS contamination map here: https://adec.maps.arcgis.com/apps/map...

Dorene Lorenz/Seward Public Radio/Juneau
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