This story originally appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle and is used with permission.
Efforts to get harmful “forever chemicals” out of firefighting foam used in Oregon are closer to being realized.
The state Senate voted nearly unanimously Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 91 and ban perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from firefighting foam used on the ground by firefighters. A vote in the House of Representatives has not yet been scheduled, but if passed, it would make Oregon the 16th state to essentially outlaw PFAS-laden firefighting foam.
PFAS are human-made chemical chains that do not break down or go away naturally but instead have for decades leached into rivers and streams and contaminated water supplies. They are thought to now be in the blood of everyone in the U.S., according to research and testing from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The chemicals have long been used in flame retardants, non-stick cookware and other products, and are known or suspected by the EPA to be harmful when consumption or exposure persists over long periods. They can lead to increased risks for cancers and birth defects, among other effects.
Under Senate Bill 91, fire departments would have until July 1, 2026 to phase out foams that contain PFAS, and find alternative ones that do not contain PFAS.
The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, who said in a news release that fire stations in her district have already phased out their use of flame retardants that contain PFAS. Oregon was the first state to direct all airports to phase out a common PFAS-laden foam, AFFF foam, which has largely been replaced by a non-PFAS containing foam called P3, according to Karl Koenig, president of the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council.
Officials from the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office told lawmakers they are not aware of any use of firefighting foam with PFAS among the fire departments they coordinate with and officials of the Oregon Department of Forestry told lawmakers they do not use firefighting foam containing PFAS.
Koenig, a retired fighter and paramedic, told lawmakers at a February hearing on the bill that he regrettably “played with and used thousands of gallons of AFFF foam.” He said if the bill passes, fire officials would work with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to inventory how much of the AFFF foam and other foams containing PFAS still exist in the state and find the best way to exchange or dispose of them.
“We don’t know if there’s five gallons out there or 500,000 gallons out there. My gut feel is it’s in the middle,” he told lawmakers.
The bill makes an exception for firefighting foams that are or could be required by a regulation of the Federal Aviation Administration or other federal law, but some federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Defense, are phasing them out. The U.S. Forest Service has not ended the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS.
In an email to KLCC, Eugene-Springfield Fire Chief Mike Caven said his department has fully transitioned away from PFAS foams over the past two years, and no longer stores them.