SLO County files lawsuit against manufacturers of toxic firefighting foam used at airport

John Lynch
·3 min read

San Luis Obispo County filed a federal lawsuit against manufacturers of firefighting foam used at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, the county announced Friday in a news release.

Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) has been used as a fire retardant by Cal Fire at the county’s regional airport and others for several years under Federal Aviation Administration requirement, but contain “forever chemicals” that can pose environmental and health risks, the release said.

Federal and state regulatory agencies have raised alarms about the risks posed by per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances often referred to as “PFAS,” in recent years, the release said.

Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal introduced two new bills in September aimed at helping airports transition away from the use of the toxic firefighting foams.

After PFAS was found in areas downhill from the county’s airport in 2019 — allegedly due to use of AFFF at the facility — the county and Cal Fire to entered into a voluntary cleanup and abatement agreement with the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to address PFAS impacts around the airport, the release said.

Low levels of PFAS were also detected at or near other county facilities unrelated to the airport, the release said.

A large plume of PFAS chemical pollution was discovered to be leaking from the San Luis Obispo airport property during a 2019 investigation.

PFOS and PFOA — types of PFAS — were found in the nearby groundwater and at the airport property at levels significantly above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limits. Forty-two residential wells in a nearby neighborhood were also contaminated with PFAS above healthy levels, the regional water control board said at the time.

The county’s complaint alleged the manufacturers of the foam knew or should have known that PFAS are stable in the environment, resistant to degradation, persistent in soil, known to leach into groundwater and pose a threat to human health and the environment, according to the release.

The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport Fire Station demonstrated what was a new technology on Jan. 8, 1988: a $200,000 foam spraying fire truck. At the time it was called the Department of Forestry-County Fire station at McChesney Field. The equipment was said to be able to arrive within two minutes and begin dousing fire before it parked with push button controls inside the cab. This unit replaced an older unit that parts were no longer available for.

It also alleged the manufacturers defectively designed these products and marketed them knowing they posed a threat to health and the environment and misled the public and the county by concealing and failing to warn about the dangers, according to the release.

The county filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, which has been designated by the Judicial Panel on Multi-district Litigation to handle AFFF cases, according to the release.

Due to the health and environmental risks posed by these chemicals, the county is filing suit against the following manufacturers of AFFF and PFAS chemicals, the release said.

  • 3M Company (formerly known as, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.)

  • AGC Chemicals Americas, Inc.

  • Amerex Corporation

  • Archroma, U.S., Inc.

  • Arkema Inc.

  • BASF Corporation

  • Buckeye Fire Equipment Company

  • Carrier Global Corporation

  • Chemdesign Products Inc.

  • Chemguard Inc.

  • Clariant Corporation

  • Daikin America, Inc.

  • Deepwater Chemicals, Inc.

  • Dynax Corporation

  • E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

  • National Foam, Inc.

  • Raytheon Technologies Corporation

  • RTX Corp. (formerly known as United Technologies Corporation)

  • The Chemours Company (now known as The Chemours Company FC, LLC)

  • Tyco Fire Products L.P. (successor-in-interest to the Ansul Company)

  • UTC Fire & Security Americas Corp. Inc. (now known as Carrier Fire and Security America’s Corp.)