The Durango Fire Protection District says it will participate in a “takeback program” to turn over hundreds of gallons of toxic firefighting foam.

The fire district expects to hand over about 240 gallons of firefighting foam to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said Deputy Chief Randy Black. CDPHE will store the toxic product until it can be safely disposed. The state will compensate the district at $40 per gallon for the unspent PFAS firefighting foam. The money will go toward the purchase of a safer replacement.

“The helpful part of this buyback program is it allows us a pot of money to buy the new foam out of because it’s not cheap,” Black said.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been incorporated into many consumer and industry products since the 1940s – from food packaging and non-stick cookware to shampoo and dental floss.

Firefighting foam has been among the most notable products after it was reported that PFAS foam from the U.S. Air Force Academy contaminated private drinking water wells. Other U.S. Air Force bases have also been identified as the sources of PFAS groundwater contamination.

PFAS firefighting foams were used for liquid-fuel fires like those involving gasoline, Black said. They were often used for training practice, particularly at airports where scenarios would feature hundreds of gallons of foam, he said.

PFAS chemicals break down slowly over time, building up in humans, animals and the environment. People can ingest the chemicals through contaminated drinking water, some packaging products and foods such as fish.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS exposure can decrease fertility and interfere with the body’s natural hormones. It can also lead to cancer and developmental delays in children.

In July 2020, Colorado’s Water Quality Control Commission decided to regulate PFAS chemicals after the Colorado Legislature banned the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foams in 2019.

CDPHE’s take-back program, which began this fall, allows fire departments across the state to apply for the program until the end of February 2022. Payments began Oct. 1 and will continue through March 31, 2022.

Black said the fire district has done a complete audit of its PFAS firefighting foam supplies and registered its inventory with CDPHE.

“We’ve got a complete accounting of where we're storing all of it,” Black said. “We're just waiting to hear back from them on the next steps.”

PFAS exposure has been less of a concern in Southwest Colorado than along the Front Range, said San Juan Basin Public Health spokesman Chandler Griffin.

But according to a PFAS map released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the EPA has identified dozens of sites in Southwest Colorado that may be handling PFAS chemicals.

Oil and gas developments make up the majority of those sites, but they also include airports, waste facilities and mining operations.

Though it hasn’t posed an immediate risk, Griffin said San Juan Basin Public Health is still monitoring PFAS in the region.

“PFAS can present serious health problems to first responders and to the community immediately surrounding PFAS storage sites,” Griffin said.

“The buyback policy is a sensible approach to reducing the potential risk to the community,” he said.

ahannon@durangoherald.com