Banned firefighting foam found at Dunedin Airport

Banned firefighting foam has been found at Dunedin Airport, and at Port Taranaki in the North Island.

• This story was first published by RNZ
• Banned foam found at Queenstown Airport

The Environmental Protection Authority said the airport found the foam after internal checks and the EPA was now monitoring its disposal.

The authority said it had also told the port to produce a plan to address firefighting foam stocks.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) foam was banned 13 years ago but a year-long EPA investigation has already found it at a dozen sites nationwide, including at Queenstown Airport.

The chemicals in the foam last thousands of years and have been linked to damage to human health.