Heavy bill for foam cleanup

By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

PUTNAM --- Voters in the East Putnam Fire District voted recently to move funds from the Capital and Non-recurring Fund to the Operating Budget in order to pay for cleanup of a banned fire suppressant.

District Vice President John Barnes said AFFF was mistakenly dispensed at a Sept. 6 fire at Ross Recycling.

The funds will be used to pay a bill from Kropp Environmental Contractors of Lebanon in the amount of $67,692.69.

Fire Chief Abe Walker said some foam was still left in the truck and was dispensed. Walker said that the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) was there as it is customary that they go to fires involving petroleum products/hazardous materials, etc.  The DEEP ordered the cleanup.

Barnes said Kropp was hired to clean up the affected soil in the recycling center and the product that ran downhill. “Cleanup and disposal is very expensive,” he said.

When the chemical was banned by law in 2021, the state legislature granted the DEEP $3 million to collect and safely get rid of AFFF from fire departments. That grant is long gone.

Walker said the district is working on getting the chemical properly disposed of. The chemical sits in a section of a fire truck and it is mixed with water as it’s sprayed out, producing a foam that suppresses petroleum fires. He added, barring any disasters, the district is not in need of any critical pieces of equipment out of the Capital and Non-recurring Fund.

East Putnam resident and town Fire Marshal Scott Belleville urged the district to be transparent about the issue.

According to the state DEEP site, “An Act Concerning the Use of PFAS in Class B Firefighting Foam, effective July 13, 2021” , implemented a phased ban of the use of firefighting foams containing intentionally-added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These foams are typically used for extinguishing Class B flammable liquid and petroleum hydrocarbon fires.  Common labels for these foams include AFFF, AR-AFFF, FFFP, AR-FFFP, FP, and FPAR (“Fluorinated Foam”).  The Fluorinated Foam ban was rolled out in phases.”