The airport in Houston, Texas, looked like a winter wonderland Thursday morning after firefighting foam was accidentally released.
The nasty incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. at a United Airlines hangar at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and the building and surrounding parking lot were covered in 30-foot-deep foam, officials said. .
In aerial footage of the hangar Thursday morning, the foam appeared almost indistinguishable from real snow without the surrounding bare ground.
Older versions of firefighting foam are known to be toxic and long-term exposure can lead to cancer. But the foam sprayed from the United Airlines hangar is newer. PFAS free Airports and officials say they are friendly and non-toxic.
“The good news is that this is a new foam that does not contain PFAS, so it is safer for the environment and should not be carcinogenic,” said Michael Mear, operations chief for the Houston Fire Department. told Fox26 Houston.
However, accidental sprays still caused major disruption. United’s environmental team led the cleanup of the scene with assistance from the Houston Fire Department, Houston Airport, and Houston Public Works.
The cleanup took several hours as workers in protective suits sprayed the area with a special solution to dissolve the foam.
“Due to its high expansion properties, it reached a height of 30 feet. So the stop sign behind us was covered in foam and all the vehicles were covered as well,” Miré told the camera. he told a local broadcaster while pointing at a stop sign.
Fortunately, this cleaning did not impact travelers entering and exiting Busch Airport.
The Houston airport said it was unclear how the foam was “inadvertently released,” but there were no people or aircraft inside the hangar at the time.
The Houston Fire Department said it will continue to track the environmental impact of the accidental spill.
“This is a new product to the industry, so we’ll see in 20 years what the results will be,” Mia said.
Hazardous materials authorities are working with the Coast Guard and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to monitor nearby waterways, Fox26 reports.
