WINDSOR — The town of Windsor issued a warning about the potential release of firefighting foam into the Farmington River that could lead to health concerns.
DEEP issued a release:
DEEP’s Emergency Spill Response staff remain on scene at the airport and surrounding areas working to assess, manage and contain contaminants released into the environment in the wake of today’s tragic accident at Bradley Airport. Contaminants released include Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), glycol, and fuel.
DEEP is working with other emergency responders to deploy containment apparatus, including vacuum trucks and containment booms, to minimize releases to the environment to the extent practical. In particular their efforts are focused on Rainbow Brook immediately adjacent to the airport.
While our goal is to contain the contamination in the immediate vicinity of the airport, we did out of an abundance of caution notify residents that some contamination may reach the Farmington River.
In June, tens of thousands of gallons of toxic firefighting foam spilled into the Farmington River, and investigators are still trying to determine the damage it may have caused.
There’s a push to ban one of the chemicals in that foam.
State leaders are investigating the consequences after 50 thousand gallons of firefighting foam containing PFAS ended up in the Farmington River. PFAS is a Teflon-like chemical known as a “forever chemical.”
