Bethel was contracted to provide environmental support to facilitate transition to US Air Force (USAF) fire suppression systems at five specified installations in Germany, United, Kingdom, and Curacao from using C8 AFFF to a more environmentally friendly fire suppression product. The project scope included removing and replacing C8 AFFF bladders and rinsing or disposing of C8 AFFF atmospheric tanks. All C8 AFFF was replaced with six carbon (C6) based AFFF.
The process for replacing C8 AFFF with C6 AFFF included securing each system from the water supply and disarming the system. The tanks were then drained of all C8 AFFF concentrate into the approved containers. Atmospheric tanks were triple rinsed and drained into approved containers, reconnected to the system and refilled with C6 AFFF. Bladders were removed from the bladder tanks and inspected for leaks prior to the installation of new bladders. and replenished with C6 AFFF.
All removed C8 AFFF concentrate, rinsate, and bladders were containerized into DOT-approved shipping containers to be brought to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-approved or equivalent facilities for incineration.
