LA CROSSE (WKBT) — For more than 50 years, the Department of Defense has required military sites to use a specific firefighting foam that contains harmful forever chemicals known as PFAS.
Now, the department is updating its requirements to use foam without PFAS, and the new rules will extend to airports like the La Crosse Regional Airport.
The people of the Town of Campbell on French Island have been under a health advisory since the spring of 2021. The cause: water contamination due to PFAS.
Airports like La Crosse Regional Airport theoretically could have been using PFAS-free foam for years now.
“The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 required the FAA to allow fluoride-free foams,” said La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds, “but the FAA sidestepped that requirement by Congress, and has been acting unlawfully as far as I’m concerned.”
The FAA was still using DOD foam standards.
According to Town of Campbell Supervisor Lee Donahue, per Congressional action, “after Oct. 5th, 2021, every civilian airport… [was] supposed to be using non-fluorinated foam.”
Even with the DOD’s requirement now in place, there’s still a problem with implementation. Foam suppliers now have to prove that there’s no intentionally added PFAS in their products, and then, the foam has to be tested before arriving for use at airports.
“That certification process can take anywhere from 90 to 120 days,” said Reynolds.
For Town of Campbell supervisor Lee Donahue, who’s seen residents living with contaminated water for years, slow progress isn’t much progress at all.
“We know that non-fluorinated foams work, they’re readily available, and it’s just a matter of making that change.”
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