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“TROY, N.Y. — The Troy City Council acted to prohibit incineration of AFFs and PFAS at its recent meeting.
The measure, introduced by councilmembers Anasha Cummings (D-Dist.4) and Sue Steele(D-Dist.3), supports state legislation to immediately ban the burning and incineration of firefighting foams.
That legislation at the state level was introduced by Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes and Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, earlier this month.
The Norlite Plant in Cohoes burned an unknown amount of AFFs and PSAS since 2018 in kilns, undisclosed to the general public. These compounds have been found to be persistent, toxic and immunosuppressive.
The council’s resolution noted the full impact of PFAS incineration requires further investigation and is still being evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
‘This is a regional environmental issue and we appreciate our state representatives showing leadership to put this threat to an end. These are called ‘forever chemicals’ and should be banned before further damage to our air and water occurs,’ Cummings said in a news release.
‘While our citizens are in the grip of this COVID-19 pandemic, we can’t lose sight of environmental protection,’ Steele noted.
‘PFAS chemicals and related chemical contamination pose a serious threat to our environment and human health, including but not limited to, high rates of thyroid disease, immune suppression, and reduced fertility,’ Steele added.
In other action, the council adopted measures to provide coronavirus protections to vendors and city employees…”