Unseen worry: Firefighting 'forever chemicals' linger near Paine Field
EVERETT — Late on the afternoon of May 20, 2014, construction workers at Boeing’s massive Everett Modification Center at Paine Field accidentally cut a wire.
The mistake activated the building’s long-unused fire suppression system, spilling hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and firefighting foam into the building, overwhelming its sewer system and eventually flowing into wetlands to the southwest.
The foam, containing dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or so-called forever chemicals, spread into the soil at levels an analysis last year found was dozens of times above state recommendations.
As a result, the state Department of Ecology last month added the area to its small but growing list of PFAS-contaminated cleanup sites around the state.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/unseen-worry-firefighting-forever-chemicals-linger-near-paine-field/