installations, which helped the Klamath Falls International Airport — co-located with an Air National Guard base — receive funding to replace its PFAS fire foam. Fire agencies around the country had been waiting for the federal government to approve an alcohol-free substitute foam. When the federal government approved Silv-Ex Class A foam in December, Redmond Municipal Airport, the state’s fourth-busiest commercial airport, contracted with a third-party cleaning company to remove its PFAS fire foam. “It was quite the procedure,” says Dustin Miller of Redmond Fire & Rescue, which performs fire service at the Redmond airport. “And it was ridiculously expensive.” Switching out 1,000 gallons in total — including 420 in its main engine and 200 in its backup rig — cost around $56,000. The last remaining PFAS fire foam in Oregon is likely squirreled away in 5- to 10-gallon jugs in some of the state’s smaller mom-and-pop fire stations. Fire engines often came preloaded with it, and PFAS may be contained in an untold number of disused apparatus rusting around the state, Miller says. He knows of one old foam trailer near La Pine once owned by the Burlington Northern Railway that likely still has PFAS fire foam. What to do with PFAS foam after it’s located is another problem. Manufacturers like 3M and Johnson Controls offer incentives for tradeins, but this method isn’t favored by environmental advocates, who say it merely transfers the problem to other locales. The same is true for disposal in local landfills, which can allow PFAS to leach through into waterways, groundwater and wastewater streams. The region’s wastewater-treatment facilities aren’t equipped to treat complex chemicals, according to Priya Dhanapal, the City of Portland’s deputy administrator of public works. The problem is inherent in PFAS’very design as ”forever chemicals.” Current wastewater-treatment technologies are unable to destroy the strong carbon-fluorine bond. “This presents a significant challenge for public utilities, whose services are impacted by PFAS pollution from industries, businesses, and households,” Dhanapal writes in testimony to state legislators. “In addition, improper disposal of PFAS-containing materials can impact both drinking water and wastewater, as we’ve seen across the country.” A 2024 study testing data from 21 Oregon wastewater-treatment facilities found that landfill leachate discharges more total PFAS than all other industrial categories evaluated combined, according to the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies. Nationwide, the Department of Defense has identified more than 700 sites where PFAS has leached into groundwater, including 11 in Oregon outside military and National Guard installations. A $3.2 million cleanup is underway at McNary Field in Salem, and the Army plans to perform smaller cleanups at Camp Rilea near Warrenton and the Pendleton Armory. As Miller of Redmond Fire & Rescue notes, a more difficult task might be to find an airport in Oregon that doesn’t have PFAS in the soil. “It was in heavy use for decades,” Miller says. “We trained on it. So it’s there, even if we can’t see it. And it’s going to be around for a while.” Gearing Up After collection and disposal, much work will remain to rid Oregon of forever chemicals. That’s because PFAS is found everywhere in society, from cosmetics to furniture to packaging. And because of its exceptional heat-resistant and water-repellent properties, PFAS is also commonly found in firefighting gear. Exposure to PFAS chemicals, even in small amounts over time, has been linked to serious health effects including thyroid disruption, liver damage and reduced vaccine response, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Other health impacts include high cholesterol—which is notable given cholesterol’s connection to heart attack, the leading cause of death among firefighters. A study by the Department of Health and Human Services found a link in PFAS in firefighter turnout gear to cancer, which firefighters face at a rate 14% higher than the general population. At the moment, fire agencies around Oregon are replacing their gear in a piecemeal fashion as equipment reaches the end of its life cycle. All told, outfitting one firefighter costs between $5,000 and $7,000. “We’re always trying to keep our people safe,” says Jay Alley, Stayton fire chief. “I can justify the cost if I replace items as they wear out. But I can’t justify carte-blanche throwing everything away and starting over. Gear’s not cheap to start with.” Jay Alley explains how the foam works on the tank truck. 16
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