983449 - The Practicalities of Fluorosurfactant Firefighting Foam Transition: Equipment Cleaning and Long Chain Alternatives

PFAS – the most significant new water quality contaminants of this generation – remain as a key ingredient in firefighting foams used to extinguish Class B fires (i.e., those fueled by flammable or combustible liquids). Since the mid-1960s, firefighting foams containing PFAS have been used at airports, refineries, military installations, and other industrial facilities in fire suppressant applications and during fire training events. Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), and other film forming fluoroprotein foams, are known to have historically contained high concentrations of long chain PFAS (on the order of parts per million to parts per thousand) and are likely a significant contributing source of PFAS released to the environment. PFAS persist indefinitely in the environment and are highly mobile in natural waters, and they are being discovered in global drinking water supplies. Considering growing evidence of human health risks and potential ecological harm associated with PFAS, regulatory agencies are developing restrictive criteria for numerous PFAS on the order of parts per trillion. Some state regulations restrict the use of PFAS containing firefighting foams, with plans to eliminate PFAS in firefighting foams all together. Discontinuing long chain PFAS use in firefighting foams and/or implementing robust capture of discharged foam will ultimately alleviate a significant component of the future PFAS burden on water utilities. The evolving understanding of PFAS toxicity has already prompted industrial and commercial manufacturers/users to procure and use new formulations of fluorinated foams (i.e., short chain PFAS; “C6”) and/or fluorine-free foams (F3). Although short chain PFAS are less bioaccumulative in humans, they are highly mobile in natural waters, are suspected of potential human health risks, and will represent a future threat to drinking water. Transitioning to C6 or F3 for fire suppression/extinguishment has promise but requires planning to ensure decontamination (e.g., system flushing/rinsing), reliable disposal/destruction of historical long chain fluorinated foams, proper equipment and infrastructure updates/replacement, and robust training to properly extinguish fires with the new foams. This presentation will discuss the practicalities associated with firefighting foam transitioning, such as cost benefit analysis of replacement versus cleanout, waste minimization and subsequent management considerations, and efficacy of cleanout via case study demonstration.