Statewide program first in the nation to use new technology to destroy PFAS.
From Waste Today Magazine
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has launched a first-of-its-kind initiative to destroy hazardous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting foam.
During a March 18 event at Wright State University’s Calamityville training facility in Fairborn, Ohio, DeWine announced details of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s new Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) Takeback Program. AFFF is primarily used by fire departments to smother flammable liquid fires, but its high concentrations of PFAS compounds—often called “forever” chemicals—resist typical environmental degradation processes and cause long-term contamination of water, soil and air.
Using PFAS Annihilator technology developed by Battelle, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the AFFF Takeback Program is designed to destroy PFAS in firefighting foam to nondetectable levels through the process of supercritical water oxidation.
“The development of this technology is just another example of how Ohio continues to lead the nation in innovation,” DeWine says. “Through this new program, we’re destroying PFAS, which was once believed to be indestructible, to protect our first responders and safeguard the environment.”
Battelle’s PFAS Annihilator technology uses extreme heat and pressure to chemically transform PFAS into carbon dioxide and inert salt, destroying the PFAS and leaving behind no harmful byproducts or residual contamination. This technology differs from other AFFF disposal methods, such as incineration, which destroys the foam but releases that PFAS into the air, or landfilling, which results in contaminated landfill leachate.
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