WINDSOR, Conn. —
On Tuesday, Gov. Ned Lamont held a bill signing ceremony by the Farmington River in Windsor for a new state law banning the use of firefighting foam and food packaging containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
The substances are commonly known as PFAS, a large group of man-made, so-called “forever chemicals” used in a variety of materials and products around the world.
The new law bans the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, or “AFFF,” effective October 1, 2021.
Effective immediately, AFFF is not permitted for use in training activities. The law also phases out PFAS-containing food packaging by 2023, which allows time for the food and packaging industries to develop safe alternatives per the state’s desires.
Signing this bill furthers two of Gov. Lamont’s goals outlined in his 2019 PFAS Action Plan: minimizing future releases of PFAS to the environment and minimizing human health risk for Connecticut residents caused by PFAS.
Connecticut Interagency PFAS Task Force developed the action plan after its establishment in 2019 by Governor Lamont and led by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Department of Public Health, with assistance from many other agencies.
The Task Force was first convened after the accidental release of PFAS from an aircraft hangar at Bradley International Airport.
Concern over PFAS became especially relevant in October 2019 with the tragic B-17 crash at Bradley in which PFAS-containing foam was used to put out the resulting fire. The chemicals then made their way into the Farmington River, potentially contaminating drinking water and affecting the river’s ecology.
In a report from 2019, FOX61 noted that actions against PFAS post-contamination would be costly. In 2019, it was reported it would take at least $1 million dollars in 2020 alone to expand the monitoring of waste disposal sites in Connecticut. At the federal level, a total of nearly $275 million dollars was appropriated to establishing a maximum contaminant level of PFAS in drinking water, remediation, and research.
“This new law makes Connecticut residents safer, plain and simple,” Lamont said in a statement. “Reducing the potential for another release of these forever chemicals into our environment and reducing the amount of PFAS-containing products in circulation in our state, is the right thing to do for the health of the residents of Connecticut and our environment. This was identified as a priority when we convened the task force two years ago, and I’m pleased to see this come to fruition and that I can sign this into law.”
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner Betsey Wingfield said. “This law provides the mechanism to ensure that AFFF is taken out of circulation and replaced with a safer alternative, and also reduces the amount of PFAS-containing products residents will come into contact within their daily lives. I commend the stakeholders, legislators, and Governor Lamont, who championed this important legislation.”
The new law initiates a mandatory takeback program, which the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has already been engaged in, to collect AFFF foam from municipal fire departments at no charge.
It is funded by a $2 million allocation approved by the State Bond Commission in July 2020. So far, 170 fire departments have requested pickups of their existing foam inventories and 50 municipalities have completed the takeback program. More than 6,000 gallons of PFAS-containing foam have been collected as of now.
DEEP, in partnership with the State Fire Administrator and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, identified a PFAS-free firefighting foam, National Universal®F3 Green, that can be used effectively to put out fires without risking impacts to the environment or harming residents’ health.
Local fire departments can order the foam through a state contract, ensuring their foam is safe and effective.
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