Hazard NJ Podcast - Soaked in Foam

In 1967, explosions and fire erupted on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam in what would become one of the deadliest blazes in U.S. Navy history --- and ushered in a new kind of firefighting tool. Chemical foams made with PFAS became a critical part of dealing with intense fires for decades, saving countless lives. But the toxic mess left behind after that foam was sprayed is now contaminating water systems around New Jersey and beyond.

Editor's Note: "Hazard NJ" is an NJ Spotlight News podcast that examines serious pollution issues. Season 2 dives deep into the crisis of toxic pollution caused by PFAS, or "forever chemicals," around New Jersey and beyond. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.

Read the episode transcript below:

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**NOTHING STRIKES MORE FEAR IN A SAILOR THAN A FIRE AT SEA.

THERE'S NO ESCAPE. SPACE IS TIGHT. AND SAILORS ARE FORCED TO COMPETE WITH THE FIRE FOR OXYGEN AS IT SPREADS THROUGHOUT THE SHIP.

ON THE MORNING OF JULY 29, 1967... THE SAILORS ABOARD THE USS FORRESTAL BATTLED THIS ENEMY.

THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER WAS STATIONED OFF THE COAST OF NORTH VIETNAM WHEN ONE OF ITS JETS ACCIDENTALLY FIRED A ROCKET INTO THE FUEL TANK OF ANOTHER PLANE... RAINING DOWN FIERY CONFETTI ON THE SAILORS ABOARD THE SHIP.

FIRE QUICKLY SPREAD... DETONATING BOMBS AND IGNITING JET FUEL... THAT DRIPPED DOWN THROUGH HOLES IN THE FLIGHT DECK TO THE SHIP'S LOWER LEVELS.

THIS DEADLY CHAIN REACTION BECAME ONE OF THE WORST NAVAL DISASTERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. THE FIRE ON DECK RAGED FOR NEARLY AN HOUR BEFORE IT WAS BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL WITH THE HELP OF WATER CANNONS FROM OTHER SHIPS. BELOW DECK... THE FIRE CONTINUED TO BURN FOR HOURS.

ALL TOLD... THE FIRE KILLED 134 SAILORS... AND FOREVER CHANGED THE WAY THE NAVY OPERATED.

THE DAMAGE COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS... AND SET THE NAVY ON A QUEST TO IMPROVE FIRE SAFETY.

BUT IN THEIR EFFORT TO HELP PROTECT THE LIVES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL... THEY ENDED UP FUELING A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.

THIS IS HAZARD NJ... AND I'M JORDAN GASS-POORÉ... AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST FROM TEXAS.

ON THIS SEASON WE'RE TAKING A LOOK AT THE THREAT OF PFAS.

THEY'RE OFTEN CALLED FOREVER CHEMICALS... AND THEY'RE IN OUR TOILET PAPER... OUR CLOTHES... OUR FAST-FOOD WRAPPERS... AND EVEN OUR BLOOD.

IF YOU'VE HEARD OF PFAS BEFORE THIS PODCAST... CHANCES ARE YOU HEARD ABOUT THEM BEING FOUND IN DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS AROUND THE COUNTRY.... MAYBE EVEN YOUR OWN WATER SYSTEM.

IN THIS EPISODE... WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT HOW THOSE CHEMICALS GOT IN THE WATER IN THE FIRST PLACE... AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REMOVE THEM.

THE MASSIVE FIRE ON THE USS FORRESTAL LED TO THE WIDESPREAD USE OF FIREFIGHTING FOAM THAT CONTAINS PFAS.

NEARLY 60 YEARS LATER... THIS FOAM HAS BEEN A MAJOR SOURCE OF PFAS CONTAMINATION.

IT STARTED WITH THE U.S. NAVY'S COLLABORATION WITH 3M. THE COMPANY THAT'S BEST KNOWN TO ME AS THE MANUFACTURER OF THE SHIPPING TAPE THAT GETS STUCK TO ITSELF.

BESIDES THAT TAPE... 3M ALSO PRODUCED FOAMS THAT HAVE BEEN USED TO PUT OUT EMERGENCY FIRES AND... MORE OFTEN... SPRAYED IN ROUTINE FIREFIGHTING DRILLS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

THE FOAM WAS ALSO WIDELY ADOPTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LATER THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TO FIGHT FIRES AT COMMERCIAL AIRPORTS.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**NAVY SCIENTISTS AND 3M HAD BEEN DEVELOPING THIS WONDER FOAM SINCE THE EARLY 1960s... BUT THE NAVY DIDN'T SECURE THE FOAM'S PATENT UNTIL 1966. THAT'S LESS THAN A YEAR BEFORE THE FORRESTAL DISASTER.

IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR PEOPLE TO BECOME CONCERNED THAT THE FOAM WAS HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT. IN THE EARLY 1970s THERE WERE REPORTS OF THE FOAM RELEASING INTO WATERWAYS IN AND AROUND MILITARY BASES.

BUT THE FOAM DID ITS JOB... THANKS TO A KEY INGREDIENT... PFAS. FIREFIGHTERS USED THIS FOAM TO EXTINGUISH FIRES QUICKLY... AND SAVE LIVES. THERE WAS JUST ONE CATCH... THE CHEMICALS MAY ACTUALLY BE HARMING THEIR HEALTH... AND AN UNTOLD NUMBER OF COMMUNITIES THEY SERVE.

THIS WOULD BE ONE FIRE THE MILITARY WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME PUTTING OUT.

I INITIALLY THOUGHT THIS FOAM WOULD LOOK MORE LIKE SLIMER FROM GHOSTBUSTERS... BUT I WAS WRONG. IT'S NOT EVEN GREEN.

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**Foam is not unlike your dishwashing detergent under your kitchen sink. Basically, that material that's used for washing dishes and stuff, you know, a pan, you basically take the bottle, you squeeze out a certain amount of the dishwashing liquid and you mix it with the water and you get this sort of fluffy, soapy kind of arrangement.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**THAT'S GLENN CORBETT. HE'S AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF FIRE SCIENCE AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AT JOHN JAY COLLEGE IN NEW YORK. HE'S ALSO A FORMER ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF FOR THE WALDWICK FIRE DEPARTMENT... AND HAS BEEN FIGHTING FIRES IN NEW JERSEY FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS.

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**Well, it's sort of the same thing for foam. Basically, you know, foam comes in a concentrate form, in a big jug, that we in the fire service mix with the water to create that foam blanket.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**FIREFIGHTING FOAM HAS BEEN AROUND FOR NEARLY 100 YEARS.

AND OVER THAT TIME... ITS PURPOSE HAS REMAINED THE SAME... TO EXTINGUISH FIRES... BUT ITS CHEMICAL MAKEUP HAS CHANGED.

THE AQUEOUS FILM FORMING FOAM... OR AFFF... IS THE TYPE OF FOAM WE'RE CONCERNED WITH. IT'S USUALLY MADE WITH PERFLUOROOCTANE SULFONIC ACID... OR PFOS... AND PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID... BETTER KNOWN AS PFOA... TWO CHEMICALS IN THE PFAS FAMILY.

THIS TYPE OF FOAM... WHEN SPRAYED... CREATES A THIN LAYER OVER A BURNING LIQUID... SMOTHERING THE FLAMES.

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**If I put my boot in AFFF foam, what happens is I pull my boot out and immediately reseals itself, right? There's a very thin layer of protective foam literally right on top of the burning liquid.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**GLENN SAYS THE AFFF FOAM PUTS FIRES OUT MORE EFFECTIVELY AND IS EASIER TO APPLY.

BUT CLEANING UP AFTER THE FIRE IS OUT? THAT CAN BE A REAL HEADACHE... ONE THAT CAN LEAD TO LONG-TERM PROBLEMS...

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**When we were done, we would do what we call the wash down. That was a typical kind of thing that every fire department in America did this, like, 'Okay, now the accidents over with, we've dealt with the problem, let's wash the stuff off the side of the road and into the the storm sewer system, basically to get rid of it off the roadway.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**ALL OF THAT FOAM CONTAINING PFAS EVENTUALLY FINDS ITS WAY INTO STREAMS... LAKES... RIVERS... RESERVOIRS... GROUNDWATER... THE KINDS OF PLACES THAT DRINKING WATER COMES FROM.

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**We understood that this was something that, you know, is not particularly healthy for the environment, for the water supply, and things like that. But understand that, you know, we've been using this foam for over almost 50 years now, basically. And so, all that PFAS from the '70s, '80s, '90s, it's all found its way into the water supply. And now we started looking for it, and we found it. And so that's why we're in a position where we are today.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**NEW JERSEY FIRE DEPARTMENTS... AS WELL AS THE U.S. MILITARY ... ARE NOW IN A PERIOD OF TRANSITIONING FROM THIS FIREFIGHTING FOAM THAT CONTAINS PFAS TO ONE THAT... WELL... DOESN'T.

GLENN SAYS WE'RE AT THE BEGINNING STAGES OF THIS TRANSITION... WE WANT A FOAM THAT'S SIMILAR TO AFFF... WITHOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**So, I think, you know, it'll just be one of those things where over time, we'll end up with a new material that we don't have to worry about as much of the environmental impact, and maybe we can, in fact, wash it down again.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**BUT THAT'S EASIER SAID THAN DONE. THERE'S STILL STOCK OF AFFF FOAM SITTING ON THE SHELVES AT FIRE DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

**Glenn Corbett -- Associate Professor of Fire Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
**When it comes to foam, you know, it is an essential tool, the only tool that we really have for flammable and combustible liquids.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**AFTER DECADES OF MAKING FIREFIGHTING FOAM FOR THE NAVY... 3M ANNOUNCED IN 2022 THAT IT WOULD STOP PRODUCING THE FOAM... AND ANY OTHER PFAS PRODUCTS... BY THE END OF 2025... AFTER FACING A WAVE OF LITIGATION AND NEW REGULATIONS RELATED TO THE CHEMICALS.

HERE'S HOW JOHN BANOVETZ... THE COMPANY'S TOP OFFICIAL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY... EXPLAINED THAT DECISION IN A 3M-PRODUCED ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO.

**John Banovetz -- Chief Technology Officer, 3M
**Our strategy has been to proactively manage PFAS within our portfolio. And in doing so, in advance our environmental stewardship efforts. PFAS continue to be essential for modern life and can be safely made and used. They are critical for medical devices, smartphones, automobiles, airplanes and even the green economy. Our teams have made valuable contributions in creating products important to these industries and our customers. At the same time, a hallmark of 3M has always been our ability to apply our science to enter new markets. Moving forward, 3M continues to be a global material science leader. Our innovation is more important than ever.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**BUT THE MILITARY CONTINUED TO USE OTHER FORMULATIONS OF THE FOAM... WITH OTHER PFAS CHEMICALS.

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BOUGHT THIS PRODUCT UNTIL 2023... AND PLAN TO PHASE IT OUT ENTIRELY BY OCTOBER.

THE MILITARY ANNOUNCED LAST FALL THAT IT'S REPLACEMENT FOAM... OFFICIALLY CALLED FLOURINE FREE FOAM... OR F3... HAD BEEN APPROVED FOR USE.

CORBETT SAYS IT'S AN IMPORTANT STEP... NOT JUST FOR THE MILITARY... BUT FOR FIREFIGHTING AGENCIES OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES WHO WILL BE WATCHING CLOSELY TO SEE HOW THE REPLACEMENT FOAM PERFORMS.

I'M NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAS A HARD TIME PRONOUNCING THE SCIENTIFIC NAME FOR PFAS.

THAT WAS THE NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY LAST YEAR ... CLEARING THE WAY FOR GOVERNOR PHIL MURPHY TO SIGN A LAW THAT... IN TWO YEARS... WILL BAN THE USE OF FIREFIGHTING FOAM THAT CONTAINS PFAS. NEW JERSEY IS NOW ONE OF MORE THAN A DOZEN STATES WITH SUCH A BAN ON THE BOOKS... BUT THERE ARE SOME CAVEATS.

SOME INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES IN NEW JERSEY THAT USED FIREFIGHTING FOAM... LIKE CHEMICAL FACTORIES... HAVE FOUR YEARS TO FIND AN ALTERNATIVE.

THERE'S ALSO A CONTROVERSIAL CARVE OUT FOR OIL REFINERIES AND PETROLEUM TERMINALS IN THE STATE. THESE COMPANIES HAVE AN EIGHT YEAR GRACE PERIOD WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ADDITIONAL FOUR-YEAR EXTENSION.

THE BILL ALSO PROVIDES FUNDS TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TO CREATE A GRANT TO HELP SMALL FIRE DEPARTMENTS DISPOSE OF EXISTING PFAS FOAM.

THE TWO MOST COMMON TYPES OF PFAS... PFOS AND PFOA... HAVE BEEN DETECTED IN DRINKING WATER ON OR NEAR AT LEAST 455 MILITARY SITES AROUND THE U.S.... INCLUDING NINE IN NEW JERSEY. THIS IS ACCORDING TO ANALYSIS BY THE ADVOCACY NONPROFIT... ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP.

IT'S A PROBLEM SO WIDESPREAD THAT THE GARDEN STATE SUED THE MILITARY OVER IT'S PAST USE OF AFFF IN 2021. THAT CASE IS ONGOING.

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST IN THE PINELANDS IS THE STATE'S LARGEST MILITARY BASE... AND A PRIME EXAMPLE OF PFAS POLLUTION CAUSED BY DECADES OF USING AFFF.

I WENT OUT TO THE JOINT BASE.

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE BEAUTIFUL NORTHEASTERN DAYS WHERE IT'S NOT TOO COLD OR TOO HOT.

AS I WALKED AROUND THE BASE... PLANES OCCASIONALLY DARTED ACROSS THE BLUE SKY.

JIM RICHMAN... THE RESTORATION PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE BASE... TOOK ME OUT TO WHAT LOOKED LIKE JUST A NORMAL RETENTION POND.

**Jim Richman -- Remediation Program Manager, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
**This is what we refer to as our AFFF release area number two.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**THERE'S TWO RETENTION PONDS ON THE BASE THAT CAUGHT DISCHARGES OF AFFF WHEN IT WAS USED IN NEARBY HANGARS.

IF I WOULD HAVE TAKEN GROUNDWATER SAMPLES FROM THESE PONDS... RICHMAN'S TEAM ESTIMATES THE AMOUNT OF PFAS WOULD HAVE BEEN SEVERAL THOUSAND PARTS PER TRILLION.

TO PUT THAT INTO PERSPECTIVE... A PART PER TRILLION IS BASICALLY ONE DROP OF WATER IN AN OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOL.

THIS PFAS HITCHES A RIDE ON UNDERGROUND STREAMS AND MIGRATES VERTICALLY DOWN TO THE WATER TABLE.

ONCE IT'S THERE... IT MOVES WITH THE FLOW OF THE GROUNDWATER.

RICHMAN AND HIS TEAM STARTED LOOKING FOR PFAS AT THE JOINT BASE IN 2015. AND THERE'S STILL A DECENT AMOUNT OF WORK TO GO.

HE SAYS IT'S STILL TOO SOON TO KNOW WHAT THE FINAL CLEANUP'S GOING TO BE.

**Jim Richman -- Remediation Program Manager, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
**We're programming for 30 years for the groundwater cleanup. That's until we get further along in our investigation, until we figure out what our remedy is going to be, until it starts implementing, and what we're going to do with that remedy will we have an idea of how long it's going to take.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**OF COURSE THE JOINT BASE ISN'T THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THE MILITARY IS TRYING TO GET A HANDLE ON PFAS.

JUST LAST YEAR... ABOUT 40 MILES AWAY... THE NAVY TESTED 87 DRINKING WATER WELLS AT HOMES NEAR NAVAL WEAPONS STATION EARLE IN COLTS NECK... WHERE FIREFIGHTING FOAM IS... AGAIN... THE SOURCE OF PFAS PROBLEMS. BUT JUST TO BE CLEAR... THOSE PROBLEMS AREN'T CONNECTED TO THE CONTAMINATION AT THE JOINT BASE.

THE TESTING IN COLTS NECK FOUND THAT 12 OF THOSE WELLS HAD SOME LEVEL OF PFAS PRESENT.

IN 2023... I WENT OUT TO FREEHOLD TO ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING ORGANIZED BY THE NAVY.

OFFICIALS FROM THE DOD... EPA... AND THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WERE THERE TO ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS USING WELLS IN THE AREA TO GET THEIR WATER TESTED FOR PFAS.

NAVY CAPTAIN EDWARD CALLAHAN... WHO WAS THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF EARLE AT THE TIME... WAS AT THE MEETING ASKING RESIDENTS IN THE TEST AREA TO SIGN UP FOR SAMPLING.

**Capt. Edward Callahan -- Former Commanding Officer, Naval Weapons Station Earle
**I would absolutely ask to have my well tested because, at the end of the day, you want to make sure that your drinking water is safe, whether it's something the Navy's done at all, it's a free test and it's available for you.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**THIS PAST JUNE... OFFICIALS FROM THE JOINT BASE HELD A SIMILAR MEETING IN PEMBERTON TO HELP RESIDENTS UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION IN THAT PART OF THE STATE.

**Sheri Menhalo -- Pemberton resident
**It's nice to feel safe living next to the bases, always makes a person feel safe, but at the same time, something like this, it's a catch-22, isn't it? Do I have people that I love that are very near to me, that are sick right now? With big illnesses? Yes.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**SHERI MENHALO WAS AT THAT MEETING. SHE LIVES IN PEMBERTON... RIGHT OUTSIDE THE AREA THE AIR FORCE WANTS TO TEST FOR PFAS.

SHE AND HER OTHER NEIGHBORS WERE INVITED TO ATTEND AND ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT'S BEING DONE... AND HOW THE PFAS CONTAMINATION COULD AFFECT THEIR HEALTH.

**Sheri Menhalo -- Pemberton resident
**Do we know why? I don't know. Nobody seems to know. But I saw some things on the boards today that were concerning. Thyroid cancer, kidney cancer, my husband has had run-ins with them.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**THE AIR FORCE BEGAN TESTING WELL WATER FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE CLOSE TO THE JOINT BASE IN 2016.

MORE RECENTLY... MILITARY OFFICIALS HAVE STARTED TRACKING PFAS LEVELS IN NEARBY CREEKS AND STREAMS.

THE AIR FORCE MAY EXPAND TESTING BASED ON WHAT THEY FIND. BUT IT'S GOING TO TAKE A WHILE BEFORE WE KNOW ANYTHING.

IN THE MEANTIME... THE MILITARY AND EPA ARE WORKING ON A PLAN TO CLEAN UP THE CONTAMINATION AT BOTH BASES.

NAVAL WEAPONS STATION EARLE... JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST... THEY'RE JUST TWO DROPS IN A VERY LARGE BUCKET.

50 COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEMS... SERVING MORE THAN 600,000 CUSTOMERS ACROSS NEW JERSEY... ARE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN TAINTED BY THE MOST COMMON PFAS AT LEVELS HIGHER THAN WHAT THE STATE ALLOWS.

SOME OF THOSE SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM... OTHERS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH HIGH PFAS LEVELS.

IN APRIL... THE EPA SET MAXIMUM CONTAMINANT LEVELS FOR SIX TYPES OF PFAS CHEMICALS IN DRINKING WATER. THE NEW EPA RULES ARE NOT YET IN EFFECT.

INDUSTRY GROUPS REPRESENTING CHEMICAL COMPANIES HAVE SUED TO BLOCK THEM... ARGUING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS GONE TOO FAR BY CREATING EXTREMELY STRICT STANDARDS.

BUT IF THE EPA'S RULES DO GO INTO EFFECT... THEY WILL APPLY TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY... AND SURPASS EXISTING REGULATIONS IN NEW JERSEY AND ELSEWHERE.

MICHAEL REGAN... HEAD OF THE EPA... FIRST PROPOSED THE NEW WATER STANDARDS LAST YEAR. HE ANNOUNCED THE RULES IN NORTH CAROLINA... WHERE HE ONCE GRAPPLED WITH PFAS POLLUTION IN WATER SUPPLIES WHILE SERVING AS THAT STATE'S TOP ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIAL.

**Michael Regan -- Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
**We anticipate that when fully implemented, this rule will prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious PFAS-related illnesses.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**ZACHARY SCHAFER... A SENIOR ADVISOR IN THE EPA'S OFFICE OF WATER... SAYS THE SCIENCE IS CLEAR... THAT LONG TERM EXPOSURE TO PFAS IS LINKED TO SIGNIFICANT HEALTH RISKS.

**Zachary Schafer -- Senior Advisor, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
**These are six of the most widely studied PFAS, and science is the backbone to all of the work that we do, and so we are using the latest science on both the health effects of what we understand health effects to be of these PFAS and on how to monitor for them, how to treat water to remove them.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**THE EPA'S NEW RULES WILL APPLY TO MILITARY BASES... PUTTING NEW PRESSURE FOR THE PENTAGON TO DEAL WITH ITS LEGACY OF PFAS POLLUTION.

AFTER THE EPA FINALIZED ITS PFAS STANDARDS... THE DOD LAUNCHED INVESTIGATIONS INTO 707 FACILITIES SUSPECTED OF HAVING PFAS CONTAMINATION IN THE GROUNDWATER.

FROM THE U.S. MILITARY SPREADING PFAS IN FIREFIGHTING FOAM... TO ITS USE IN LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS... PFAS IS BECOMING A MAJOR SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION NATIONWIDE... ULTIMATELY AFFECTING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN NEW JERSEY... AND MILLIONS OF OTHER AMERICANS.

CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE GRAPPLING WITH HOW TO TURN OFF THE TAP ON FOREVER CHEMICALS... ONCE AND FOR ALL.

THE EPA ESTIMATES IT'LL COST ABOUT $1.5 BILLION A YEAR TO REMOVE PFAS FROM U.S. DRINKING WATER.

3M AND DUPONT ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP COVER SOME OF THESE COSTS.

LAST YEAR... 3M OFFERED TO PAY AT LEAST $10 BILLION TO SETTLE LAWSUITS OVER THE CONTAMINATION OF THOUSANDS OF PUBLIC DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS ACROSS THE U.S.

ALSO... DUPONT... AND ITS SPIN OFFS... CHEMOURS... WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT IN EPISODE ONE... AND CORTEVA... REACHED A BILLION-DOLLAR DEAL TO RESOLVE PFAS COMPLAINTS IN HUNDREDS OF CITIES.

RIDGEWOOD NEW JERSEY IS A SLEEPY VILLAGE IN SUBURBAN BERGEN COUNTY. PEOPLE MOVE HERE FOR THE SCHOOLS... THE EASY ACCESS TO NEW YORK CITY... AND THE QUAINT DOWNTOWN.

BUT IN 2018... RESIDENTS WERE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT FOREVER CHEMICALS WERE FOUND IN THEIR DRINKING WATER.

THE VILLAGE'S WATER COMPANY... RIDGEWOOD WATER... IS PUBLICLY OWNED... AND SERVES OVER 60,000 PEOPLE IN RIDGEWOOD AND SURROUNDING TOWNS.

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**We, unfortunately, detected that PFOA and PFOS are compounds in all 52 of our wells. PFOA exceeds New Jersey DEP standards in all of our wells.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**RICHARD CALBI JUNIOR IS THE UTILITY'S OPERATIONS MANAGER.

I MET UP WITH HIM AT THEIR OFFICE... A FORMER ELKS CLUB... IN THE HEART OF RIDGEWOOD.

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**We moved in here in '22, fall...

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**HE SHOWED ME AROUND... PAST CUSTOMER SERVICE...

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**These people have the toughest job. They're the frontline. They get all the phone calls.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**FIELDING QUESTIONS FROM CUSTOMERS ABOUT WHY THEIR UTILITY BILL HAS GONE UP BECAUSE OF PFAS CONTAMINATION.

CALBI SAYS THEY'RE ON TRACK TO COMPLY WITH THE EPA'S NEW NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR PFAS IN DRINKING WATER BY 2026. THAT'S THREE YEARS BEFORE THE FED'S DEADLINE.

MEETING THESE NEW LIMITS WON'T BE EASY... OR CHEAP.

CALBI SAYS IT'S ESTIMATED TO COST THE UTILITY... AND ULTIMATELY THEIR CUSTOMERS... $140 MILLION TO REMOVE PFAS FROM ITS DRINKING WATER.

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**We're trying to hold the companies that made these contaminants and that found their way into our groundwater accountable. We're surcharging the customers, unfortunately, because at the end of the day, we have to continue to operate and pay for this until all that recovery comes in. So, we've created a separate PFAS charge on the bill. That way we could separate the costs of the investment and operations, maintain that, and then slowly offset that as income comes in.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**TO BE CLEAR... RIDGEWOOD WATER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTAMINATING THE WATER WITH PFAS.

DOWN THE BLOCK FROM RIDGEWOOD WATER'S OFFICE... IS THEIR FIRST PFAS TREATMENT FACILITY.

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**So we're at our Carr treatment facility...

IT WENT ONLINE IN SEPTEMBER 2019.

RICHARD SAYS THIS SITE WAS UNIQUE TO THE UTILITY'S OTHER FACILITIES BECAUSE ALL FIVE WELLS ON THE PROPERTY EXCEEDED THE EPA'S STANDARD.

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**So, this was very early on that we started planning, engineering and ultimately constructing this facility. Even before regulations were a thought, and being regulated for the state, because we knew this was above the EPA health advisory.

WE WALKED AROUND THE SITE... WHICH IS TUCKED BEHIND A FIRE STATION AND A RECYCLING CENTER IN A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD... DODGING PATCHES OF SNOW AND ICY PUDDLES... TO GAWK AT THE FOUR MASSIVE GRAY TANKS THAT MAKE UP THE TREATMENT SYSTEM.

THEY'RE A KEY PART OF RIDGEWOOD'S WATER SYSTEM, WHICH RICHARD SAID TYPICALLY PROCESSES FIVE MILLION GALLONS OF WATER IN A DAY... THOUGH THAT CAN TRIPLE TO AROUND 15 MILLION GALLONS DAILY IN THE SUMMER.

THE PFAS IS REMOVED BY ABSORBING THE CHEMICALS INTO CARBON FILTERS.

**Richard Calbi Jr. -- Director, Ridgewood Water
**When we do a change out, the carbon that's removed gets trucked out, goes back to the facility, the manufacturer, they incinerate the carbon to a high temperature to remove the PFAS and then recycle that carbon and return it to us.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**HE SAYS THIS SITE'S A MODEL FOR THE OTHER 12 PLANTS THEY'LL BE BUILDING TO REMOVE PFAS FROM THE WATER.

ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY FROM RIDGEWOOD... IN DOVER... MIKE FURREY AND HIS TEAM IS TRYING TO UNTANGLE THIS GORDIAN KNOT.

MIKE IS THE OWNER OF AGRA ENVIRONMENTAL AND LABORATORY SERVICES. IT'S A SMALL LAB ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET.

HERE... THEY CONDUCT TESTS FOR ABOUT 1,000 DIFFERENT WATER SYSTEMS AND CUSTOMERS IN NEW JERSEY.

BUT WHAT MAKES THEIR LAB DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS... IS THEIR ABILITY TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH OF THE STATE'S DRINKING WATER IS CONTAMINATED WITH PFAS.

I WALKED WITH MIKE INTO HIS NOISY LAB...

HE POINTED TO THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF EQUIPMENT HE AND HIS TEAM USE TO TEST FOR THE CHEMICALS.

**Mike Furrey -- Owner, Agra Environmental and Laboratory Services
**This instrumentation uses liquid chromatography and mass spec to analyze for all the PFAS compounds. We're certified for several PFAS compounds.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**MIKE HAS BEEN TESTING DRINKING WATER FOR AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN ALIVE.

AND FOR THE PAST DECADE HE'S SERVED ON THE NEW JERSEY DRINKING WATER QUALITY INSTITUTE... WORKING WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS AND INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES TO PROPOSE THE STATE'S PFAS LIMITS.

HIS SON... RYAN FURREY... JOINED THE FAMILY BUSINESS ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO... WHEN HE HELPED THE LAB TEST FOR PFAS IN RIDGEWOOD'S DRINKING WATER.

**Ryan Furrey -- CEO, Agra Environmental and Laboratory Services
**You know, I got to see it from start to finish and was involved with, like, the pilot work and the analytical side of it and, you know, also the public side of it like dealing with people and explaining to people how things worked. I learned everything from operations, to lab, to public, to legal, you know, so that kind of put it all into one for me.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**RYAN DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WATER GOES THROUGH A FILTRATION SYSTEM LIKE THE ONE IN RIDGEWOOD.

**Ryan Furrey -- CEO, Agra Environmental and Laboratory Services
**So, like a Brita filter, right? As you're using a Brita filter, you know, you get that little red light and it tells you that it's spent. So it's like the same idea, right? So for water treatment plants, you know, we're retreating millions of gallons of water a day. So as you can imagine, the vessels are pretty big. But with that being said, the media that you put inside there, there's millions of active sites on there. So those millions of active sites, you know, are basically pulling in those PFAS molecules towards it. And then that's how it's filtering out. So like, you know, it attaches itself, it adsorbs to the media, and then the, the clean water comes through. And then the effluent side is what we give to the people, right, and distribute to the, for our customers.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER GO THROUGH THAT FILTRATION SYSTEM IN RIDGEWOOD... AND OTHERS LIKE IT THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

NEW JERSEY ALONE HAS MORE THAN 600 WATER SYSTEMS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE TESTED FOR PFAS. IF RESULTS EXCEED STATE GUIDELINES... THE WATER UTILITY HAS TO LET CUSTOMERS KNOW.

THE FURREYS RECOGNIZE THERE'S A NEED FOR MORE LABS LIKE THEIRS... AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TESTING.

**Mike Furrey -- Owner, Agra Environmental and Laboratory Services
**So, it does begin with the testing. If you don't test it and find it, it's hard. It's hard to actually treat for it. For most chemists or people that do testing, it is a difficult thing to do and time consuming, but pretty fascinating. So those who like to do it, they like to do it.

**Jordan Gass-Pooré -- Host
**THIS ISN'T JUST A RIDGEWOOD PROBLEM... OR A NEW JERSEY PROBLEM... PFAS IS SO PERVASIVE THAT IF IT'S NOT IN YOUR COMMUNITY DRINKING WATER... IT'S PROBABLY IN A PLACE YOU KNOW OR HAVE VISITED.

THE PLANS BY THE STATE AND EPA TO LIMIT PFAS IN DRINKING WATER WILL BE EXPENSIVE... BUT WILL REDUCE PEOPLE'S EXPOSURE TO THE CHEMICALS... AND PROTECT THEIR HEALTH.

ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF HAZARD NJ... WE DIVE DEEPER INTO THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF PFAS.

FOR DECADES... THE CHEMICAL COMPANY SOLVAY POLLUTED THE SOUTH JERSEY TOWN OF PAULSBORO WITH PFAS.

RESIDENTS THERE ARE NOW PART OF A STUDY BY RUTGERS TO SEE IF PFAS IS IN THEIR BLOOD.

HAZARD NJ IS AN NJ SPOTLIGHT NEWS PRODUCTION... YOU CAN SUPPORT OUR REPORTING BY HEADING TO NJSPOTLIGHTNEWS.ORG/DONATE

Credits

Hazard NJ is reported and written by host Jordan Gass-Pooré and producer Michael Sol Warren

Executive Producer – Jamie Kraft

Executive in Charge of Production – Joe Lee

Production Manager – Chloe Motisi

Research Assistant — Judah Duke

Sound Designer & Engineer – Mark Bush

Composer – Nick Pennington

Art – Matthew Fleming