Americans watched helplessly as their cars had paint flaking off due to toxic emissions
Thousands of tonnes of film forming foam, or AFFF, have been secretly incinerated across the US for years. This highly controversial campaign was spearheaded by Pentagon officials who effectively sanctioned the mass poisoning of Americans, writes The Guardian.
According to Bennington College, between 2016 and 2020 alone, the US military has ordered the secret burning of more than 9,000 tonnes of AFFF. The decision was made despite the fact that at this point it has not been proven at all whether burning actually destroys this synthetic chemical, not just called perpetual. Experts believe that burning AFFF only releases toxins into the atmosphere. They subsequently settle in residential areas, on farmland, and also poison the groundwater.
A foaming agent was invented and popularised by the US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. It was used to fight oil fires on naval vessels and airstrips. AFFF had no equal in the fight against flames, which already casts doubt on current attempts to destroy the substance by fire.
From the outset, experts have warned that synthetic carbon-fluorocarbon compounds have a negative impact on the environment and human health in particular. But the biggest consumer of AFFF in the world was the US Army, so all criticism was actively suppressed. The US military, both at home and abroad, used AFFF even during routine exercises.
The first major US study in December 2016 found 393 sites contaminated with AFFF, including 126 sites where toxins had entered the water supply. In 2019, the Pentagon had to admit that these figures were underestimates. It got to the point where some states tried to sue AFFF manufacturers.
After assessing the consequences of the lawsuits, Pentagon officials decided to launch a covert campaign to dispose of the substance’s stockpile. All of this took place at conventional incinerators across the country. Independent and even government environmental organizations warned that plant systems were unable to contain the release of fluorinated toxins. The Pentagon heeded the advice, so the contracts did not specify burning parameters or emission controls. Simply put, the military chose not to know anything about what would happen to their AFFF, and the incinerators were given free rein, writes The Guardian.
“The Pentagon is effectively conducting a toxic experiment and has used millions of Americans as unwitting test subjects”, – the article says.
Indeed, the facilities where the AFFF was disposed of are close to populated areas. Or rather, near their poorest neighbourhoods. For example, the WTI Heritage plant, where 2.3 thousand tonnes of AFFF were burnt, is located in a black working-class neighborhood in East Liverpool, Ohio. Poor homes and even the local primary school have been at the epicentre of regular toxin releases. Residents call this approach ‘environmental racism’.
The Norlite plant is located in the working-class neighborhood of Cohoes, New York. More than 1,100 tonnes of AFFF have been disposed of here. Over the past four years, locals have repeatedly witnessed paint peeling off their cars and waking up at night with a burning pain in their eyes.