"Washington Could Ban Cancer-Causing Chemicals Used To Fight Fires"

"OLYMPIA – Local fire departments could be banned from using a group of fire-fighting chemicals that are contaminating some wells in Airway Heights and other water sources near military bases.

Those chemicals last a long time, are almost indestructible under most natural situations and travel easily through the soil to get into underground water supplies, the House Environment Committee was told Tuesday. They are a key ingredient in some foams used to extinguish fuel fires, and are also commonly applied to firefighters’ protective gear.

They may also be responsible for a high rate of cancers in firefighters, said Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, who is sponsoring a bill to restrict the use of perfluorinated or polyfluorinated compounds, or PFAS, starting in July 2020.

“Cancer is now the leading cause of job-related deaths for firefighters,” Peterson said."

Jim Camden reports for the Spokane Spokesman-Review January 23, 2018.