A type of firefighting foam still kept on hand at some airports and known to contain high levels of PFAS — or “forever chemicals” — has become the target of a mandated cleanup effort in New Mexico, the first state to classify aqueous film-forming foam as hazardous waste.
The state’s Environmental Improvement Board on Monday ratified the classification of the substance in a unanimous vote, granting the New Mexico Environment Department direct authority to require cleanup from polluters and “strictly limit” the firefighting foam’s use in the state.
The vote comes a year after state Environment Secretary James Kenney supported the passage of House Bill 140, which first added PFAS-containing firefighting foam to the state’s definition of “hazardous waste” when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed it into law last year.
NMED General Counsel Zachary Ogaz told the Journal on Wednesday that Monday’s action clarifies HB 140’s legal framework, defining the chemical makeup of aqueous film-forming foam and solidifying the agency’s legal authority to regulate it, which Kenney echoed in a statement this week.
“Designating discarded PFAS-laden firefighting foams as a hazardous waste means the Environment Department can require cleanup,” Kenney said. “This week’s decision puts to rest any argument to the contrary and will help expedite cleanup efforts around military installations.”
While the substance has in some cases been replaced by less harmful types of firefighting foam in recent decades, the PFAS-containing foam subject to Monday’s vote was in wide use for more than 60 years, according to the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.
PFAS, or the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances the foam contains, persist for decades in air, water and soil. These forever chemicals have been linked to developmental delays, increased cancer risk, reduced immune responses and higher cholesterol levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Aqueous film-forming foam is most commonly used to fight liquid-fuel fires at airports, industrial plants or military installations.
“AFFF, or aqueous film-forming foam, was very widely used for our airport rescue firefighting for many, many years and was found to be a very heavy carcinogen and caused cancer in just so many firefighters,” said Erik Oiesen-Vreeke, fire marshal at Taos Fire Department.
Oiesen-Vreeke said Taos Regional Airport, for example, keeps the firefighting foam on hand, but Taos Fire has been planning for its safe disposal.
Several other sites around the state, including Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases, store the PFAS-containing firefighting foam, according to a 2023 complaint by the Environment Department, which claims the state’s military installations have rendered New Mexico “host to some of the nation and world’s most extensive PFAS contamination.”
An NMED blood-testing study conducted last year near Cannon Air Force Base found that 99.7% of participants living or working around the military installation had traces of the specific form of PFAS, known as perfluorooctane sulfonate, which is commonly found in aqueous film-forming foam.
“But what you need to remember is that AFFF isn’t the only thing in our world containing PFAS, right?” Oiesen-Vreeke said. “Our bunker gear contains PFAS, and while there’s been a lot of noise about, ‘Hey, we’re literally giving guys cancer with the gear that protects them,’ there isn’t a great replacement yet.”
In a news release, the Environment Department emphasized that Monday’s vote is part of a “broader regulatory push on PFAS,” including the board’s approval of new consumer product rules that phase out and require warning labels on many products containing forever chemicals, such as certain nonstick cookware and cosmetics.
John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
