The collected firefighting foam contains the substance group PFAS, which is dangerous for health and the environment – and which has been in the foam used by the emergency services in accidents with chemicals, among other things, for over 50 years.
“Cleaning up an already contaminated area is not only very difficult, it can also cost hundreds of millions of kroner, which can be compared to the costs of the project to collect the fire-fighting foam, which has so far cost around six million kroner,” says Markus Klar at the Environmental Protection Agency’s waste and chemical unit, in the press release.
In total, municipal rescue services have reported that they have 310 tons of the foam type. The authorities’ objective is to collect – and destroy – the possessions.