Banned firefighting foam cleared from New Zealand airports Banned firefighting foam stored at three New Zealand airports no longer poses a threat after being safely collected.
Banned firefighting foam has received a great deal of media coverage recently after the discovery of contaminated soil and water at two New Zealand Defence Force bases, and a subsequent investigation finding stores of the foam at several sites. Task Protection Services (TPS) contracted chemical collection experts 3R Group, which runs the ChemCollect service, to oversee the decanting and decontamination of four appliances from the Palmerston North, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay airports. 3R was also responsible for ensuring the safe disposal of the material. Fit for purpose According to ChemCollect manager Jason Richards, the process entailed moving the TPS appliances from their base airports to a fit-for-purpose site in Hawke’s Bay as this posed the lowest risk. The enclosed site allowed a fully-controlled work area and also featured bunding mats made specifically for the job. Appliance availability was a key factor so the appliances were worked on one at a time to avoid having them all out of action at once. Each appliance was also kept out of service until the testing was completed and the green light given to put that appliance back into service. Decontamination of the appliances involved them being scrubbed, back flushed and steam 32
Issue 18
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September 2019
The decanting and decontamination was carried out at a fit-for-purpose site in Hawke’s Bay.
cleaned, Jason says. “It’s critical the decanted material and rinsate is captured effectively to ensure successful decontamination.” Due to the hazardous nature of the substances, these will be sent offshore for high-heat incineration. “This is best practice for properly disposing of these sorts of contaminated materials.” Jason says it was a collaborative effort with the removal and decontamination carried out by TPS personnel under supervision of ChemCollect staff. “The decontaminated appliances were refilled with water and samples taken for testing by AsureQuality, with pleasing results.”
“We worked closely with TPS to ensure the whole process ran smoothly,” says Jason, with TPS Managing Director Trevor Reade confirming they were very happy with the result. “This has been a great working relationship.” Government clampdown In 2006 New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) banned the importation and manufacture of any firefighting foam which contains perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). This was due to their bio accumulative nature and because they are persistent within the environment and in the human body.
