Cindy Carr cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, EPA released new guidance for disposal and destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The Agency’s new 107-page “Interim Guidance” document outlines a long list of unknowns about the ultimate fate of PFAS wastes sent to incinerators, landfills, thermal oxidizers or injected into deep wells for disposal. The document highlights the fact that EPA does not have the monitoring methods or data to conclude that any of these methods are safe ways to contain PFAS wastes.
PFAS chemicals are not currently listed as hazardous in EPA’s waste statutes -- Superfund and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) -- leading to highly problematic and ineffective waste handling of products containing the chemicals. Congress previously directed the EPA to issue non-binding guidance about the disposal and destruction of highly heat-resistant PFAS chemicals, used in fire fighting foam, found in contaminated biosolids, and clinging to used water filters.
Earlier this year, the Sierra Club and frontline communities near hazardous waste incinerators sued the Department of Defense to halt the incineration of its stockpile of PFOS-based fire fighting foams, given there is no proof that incineration can destroy PFAS. Instead, studies suggest that the partial breakdown of the chemicals from incineration forms a wide variety of harmful byproducts that are acutely toxic to surrounding communities, and potent greenhouse gases. The military and some state governments have already sent millions of gallons of PFAS-based foams to hazardous and municipal waste incinerators because the foams were deemed too toxic to be used in fire fighting, as originally intended.
In response, Sierra Club Senior Toxics Policy Advisor Sonya Lunder released the following statement:
“While nothing can repair the harms caused by the military’s reckless decision to incinerate millions of gallons of PFAS fire fighting foams, the Sierra Club is eager to see meaningful regulation of these wastes in the Biden Administration. The EPA should halt PFAS disposal in incinerators, landfills, and deep wells until we have strong rules and laws to ensure the practices are safe. The EPA must work with the military and fire service to halt the use of PFAS in firefighting and safely store all AFFF foams until advanced technologies are proven to safely destroy the chemicals without polluting nearby communities.
“Frontline communities have, for decades, been at the receiving ends of disastrous health effects from these ‘forever chemicals.’ The Sierra Club is calling on the EPA to act with urgency to develop, validate and deploy safe destruction methods for PFAS wastes.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.