HYANNIS, MA—The Barnstable County Fire Chiefs Association voted unanimously to support phased closure of the PFAS-contaminated Barnstable County Fire and Rescue Training Academy during its monthly meeting in Eastham on Thursday.
The vote is in contrast to what happened at a Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners meeting earlier this month. During that meeting, several chiefs expressed concern that suspending water use for fire training activities on the 6.2-acre Hyannis site would pose a danger to public safety on Cape Cod. They instead lobbied to keep it operational.
Local environmental and citizens groups have been advocating for a complete and immediate shutdown of the academy.
"Unfortunately, it seems we are losing the battle to stay where we are, and ultimately it will create a dangerous situation for the region," said Orleans Fire Chief Anthony Pike, who also serves as president of the association. "But I don't see any other alternative. We do not want to give the message that we are here to cause harm to anyone, but we do need a training facility."
The county announced in late April that it would cease using water at the contaminated property on June 21 after existing training obligations are met.
PFAS, a class of man-made chemicals considered to be contaminants of emerging concern, is commonly found in firefighting foams used at the academy until 2009. PFAS contamination affecting the Hyannis water supply has triggered health advisories in recent years.
Suspending the use of water during active fire training exercises at the academy was based on a concern that chemicals could further spread as water passes through contaminated soil.
The vote was made in the spirit of being a good neighbor to Hyannis residents who have been affected by past contamination at the academy, according to Pike.
The association proposes to continue using the academy for primarily classroom training, with no use of water or fire for the time being. Eventually it would cease all activities when funding is secured to transition to a mobile, prop-based training system that can be used at different locations, or until the facility can be relocated.
"But it's not up to us if it closes or not," Pike said about the county-owned academy.
In the meantime, Pike says the inability to fully train firefighters locally will be difficult. He said 40 percent of local departments are now hiring but won't be able to get recruits placed in off-Cape academies until fall.
"We are optimistic that this may be a good solution and a phased reduction of use would make it easy on everyone involved," he said.
Discussions to relocate the academy to Joint Base Cape Cod are moving forward, Barnstable County Administrator John "Jack" Yunits Jr. says.
"We've been out on the base again this week," he said. "Considerable progress has been made. We've identified a fixed state-owned site and we are in the process of pursuing a lease with (Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance)."
Yunits also supports the continuation of environmentally sound training at the academy until a long-term solution can be implemented.
"The Hyannis Fire Department and District are supportive of ceasing training exercises at the academy in an effort to not exacerbate existing contamination concerns," Hyannis Fire Chief Peter Burke said. "But we are also advocating solutions to continue fire training on Cape Cod. The need hasn't been reduced, we just need to seek another location."
The Greater Hyannis Civic Association will host a public forum next week to address groundwater contamination at the academy. In addition to Pike and Yunits, panelists include County Commission Chairman Ronald Bergstrom; hydrogeologist Tom Cambareri; Patrick Princi of Barnstable's Assembly of Delegates; Dr. Laurel Schaider of the Silent Spring Institute; and Barnstable Town Manager Mark Ells.
The forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday at Barnstable Town Hall.
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