Covanta under fire for burning 13 tons of PFAS-containing AFFF at Niagara plant

A Covanta plant in Niagara Falls has admitted to burning almost 13 tons of firefighting foam over a three-year period. The foam contains high amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—better known as PFAS.

When first questioned by New York state officials, the Investigative Post reports that Covanta Niagara first denied the accusations. However, the company eventually admitted to burning a “small amount” of the material.

“That is not a small amount,” David Bond, a Bennington College professor who fought to stop a waste incinerator that was doing the same thing in Cohoes, New York, just north of Albany, told the Investigative Post. “That is enough of these toxic chemicals to bring the entire drinking water of Buffalo and Niagara Falls above New York state’s guidance levels for drinking water.”

The material was reportedly burned between January 2017 and December 2019.

A spokesperson for Covanta told the Investigative Post that “no regulation” prevented Covanta from receiving aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, at its 56^th Street plant, which burns waste to generate electricity.

Community groups and environmental groups have compared the controversy at Covanta Niagara with the Norlite Corp. Plant in Cohoes, where high levels of PFAS found in soil and surface water near the site resulted in the U.S. Department of Defense canceling contracts with Norlite to incinerate materials containing the substance.

Until the prohibition is extended statewide, though, it is not yet illegal for companies to incinerate PFAS as a means of waste disposal.

According to the Investigative Post, the AFFF burned at the Covanta Niagara plant came from stockpiles in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The foam was shipped to a company in Ohio, which blended it with other wastes, then sent to Niagara Falls, where it was incinerated.

DEC officials were tipped off that the foam might have ended up at Covanta by a Bloomberg Law article about companies looking for ways to rid themselves of AFFF. Covanta incinerators in Niagara Falls and Indianapolis were mentioned as likely disposal destinations.

In response to questioning by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, Covanta told officials it would cease doing business with companies that sent the foam to Niagara Falls, adding that “Covanta does not accept PFAS waste, such as AFF.”