Read the full article by Matthew M. Burke & Aya Ichihashi (Stars and Stripes)
“CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — For the second time in less than six months, a potentially toxic firefighting foam was discharged Friday afternoon at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma after something triggered a fire suppression system, officials said.
Details were not readily available Monday, but the foam, which contains chemicals banned in Japan, was released at approximately 4:45 p.m. inside an aircraft hangar, a Marine Corps statement said Friday night.
Military officials in Japan have previously said the firefighting foam on Futenma contains perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA.
The foam reportedly leaked off base and was seen on local television broadcasts floating through the air near residents’ homes and pouring into flowing channels of water.
‘Some [foam] has been contained, and an assessment is being conducted to determine how much went off of the installation,’ the Marine statement said.
Marine Corps Installations Pacific ‘is fully engaged in cleanup of the [foam] at MCAS Futenma and to minimize off-base impacts,’ a Marine statement Saturday morning said. ‘We are investigating the details of the incident and the discharge was not caused by an aircraft-related mishap.’
A similar incident occurred in December when an auxiliary power unit in a Futenma hangar was inadvertently switched on, activating a fire suppression system that discharged the fire suppressing foam. A Marine spokesman said 99% of the material was contained and cleaned up…”