Controversial foam set for destruction

Firefighting foam stored in dangerous goods containers at the Palmerston North fire station has been sent to Europe for destruction.

The foam was expired, ‘‘nonapproved’’ class B foam, used to fight liquid fuel fires.

Last year, Fire and Emergency NZ identified and removed all such foam from its stations.

The move came after it was revealed in late 2017 that firefighting foam containing PFAS chemical compounds had contaminated water supplies around Defence Force bases at hakea and Woodbourne, in Marlborough.

Fire and Emergency safety, special risks and USAR manager Ian Duncan said the class B foam from Manawatu¯ was quarantined and stored in Palmerston North in dangerous goods containers.

‘‘An independent certified hazardous chemicals-waste disposal company was engaged to dispose of the foam,’’ Duncan said. ‘‘Repackaging and removal of the foam from Palmerston North fire station was completed in early October.’’

The foam was being shipped to Europe and incinerated this month.

‘‘This is because it can only be disposed of by high-temperature incineration, which cannot be done in New Zealand.’’

Foams containing a type of PFAS called PFOS were restricted in New Zealand in 2006 when it was ruled they couldn’t be imported or manufactured in the country.

In late 2017, Fire and Emergency NZ said 95 per cent of its firefighting foam was ‘‘class A’’ and didn’t contain PFAS. It described class A foam as ‘‘essentially a detergent’’. It is used to fight vegetation fires and blazes in combustible materials, such as wood.

That year the service placed a ‘‘moratorium’’ on ‘‘non-approved’’ class B foam concentrates. These hadn’t been tested and confirmed as being free of PFAS compounds.

‘‘This followed earlier restrictions by Fire and Emergency on the use of all class B foam for training and other non-emergency application. This gave us parameters to work with to determine which class B foam that was then in service should be disposed of,’’ Duncan said. ‘‘In 2018, we completed a project to stockpile and quarantine all class B foam that was older than 2006; non-approved; was not clearly labelled or could not be clearly identified.

‘‘In doing this, we were ensuring that our site crews would not use any class B foam that was not compliant with the current [Hazardous Substances and New Organisms] standard.’’

Duncan said Fire and Emergency had disposed of the quarantined class B foam.

The foam in the stockpile was not tested for PFAS compounds, he said, ‘‘as we had already defined our requirements based on the 2017 testing’’ and other parameters.

None of the Fire and Emergency class B foam on hand in 2017 subject to testing contained PFAS, but past use of class B foams could have contaminated fire station land.

As reported by Stuff last week, Feilding Fire Station is one of eight Fire and Emergency sites around New Zealand under assessment for possible contamination.

The other seven are in Woolston in Christchurch, Napier, Hastings, Silverdale in Auckland, Masterton, Dunedin and Washdyke in Timaru.

Findings from ‘‘preliminary site investigations’’ are expected soon.

Exposure to PFAS, studies suggest, can increase the risk of cancer, thyroid conditions and affect the immune system, however, research into the chemical’s effects is still developing.

The Fire and Emergency website says: ‘‘PFAS are an emerging contaminant and the science is continually evolving, so there is no clear picture yet of what the health effects of PFAS are on humans.’’

PFAS compounds are found in consumer products, including food packaging and household cleaners.