U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wants the Federal Aviation Administration to stop the use of PFAS chemicals in firefighting foam at airports around the country.
Blumenthal says the FAA’s claim that foams without fluoride-based chemicals are not as effective is not true.
“We’ve seen at Bradley Airport and other places around Connecticut, including private wells, where contamination results from the use of these fluoride foams, that can easily be replaced by non-fluoride firefighting foam. In fact, airports around the world, from London, to Sydney, Australia, to all over Europe, in Germany and France, use non-fluoride foam. And they fight fires as effectively as any American airport does.”
PFAS is a toxic chemical that has been linked to kidney cancer, reproductive problems and other illnesses.
Blumenthal says the FAA’s failure to protect the health of citizens and the environment is inexcusable.
Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks is the site of two high-profile discharges of PFAS into the Farmington River. This month the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced that tests showed “elevated levels” of PFAS chemicals in fish taken from the river.
