Burlington County, New Jersey — Hundreds of New Jersey fire departments are getting rid of foam proven to put out flames. Why?
“It was like sitting on a bomb,” Jacobstown Volunteer Fire Chief Robert Gancarz told CBS News. “How am I going to get rid of this?”
Jacobstown’s fire station had used a firefighting foam called aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, since the mid-1980s. Gancarz eagerly got rid of all 580 gallons of it.
“The very tools I am using can cause health problems,” Gancarz said. “They can kill you.”
AFFF is also laced with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, commonly called “forever chemicals.” Studies link AFFF exposure to higher cancer rates among firefighters.
New Jersey is one of more than a dozen states that are working to collect, remove and destroy all of their AFFF. The state has so far collected more than 150,000 gallons from fire stations. All of it has been trucked to Revive Environmental, an Ohio company that specializes in PFAS destruction.
“We process it directly through our super critical water reactors,” said Rick Gillespie, CEO of Revive Environmental. “And what comes out of those reactors is clean water.”
But for decades, firefighters’ protective equipment also contained PFAS.
“It was in the gear and everything,” 76-year-old “Boots” Gancarz, Robert Gancarz’s father, said. “I had that every time you put it on and went to a call.”
Boots Gancarz fought fires all his adult life. In 2024, doctors told him he had colon cancer.
“I’m going to beat this,” Boots Gancarz said. “They ain’t shoveling dirt in my face yet.”
Robert Gancarz showed CBS News his department’s new PFAS-free foam. It is made with soybeans.
“We have to use a little bit more of this product, but it can still put the fire out,” Robert Gancarz said.
He has been blood-tested and his results showed PFAS levels higher than those of the average American.
Asked if he is worried about a possible cancer diagnosis for himself, Robert Gancarz responded, “It’s definitely a scary, scary thing to think about.”