SALISBURY, Md. -- Fire departments across Maryland’s Eastern Shore are still storing stockpiles of banned firefighting foam years after the state outlawed it, raising concerns about safety and accountability.
In 2022, Maryland banned the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals" that have been linked to cancer. As part of that ban, the state was expected to create a take-back program to collect and safely dispose of the hazardous material.
But four years later, many departments say that the program has fallen short.
At the Salisbury Fire Department alone, roughly 1,000 gallons of banned foam remain on-site, stored outdoors with no clear timeline for removal.
Salisbury Fire Chief Rob Frampton said the delay has left his department in a difficult position.
"While a lot of this stuff is stored in, you know, rather durable plastic containers, it is out here in the open, and it's susceptible to weather, it's susceptible to, you know, possible puncture," said Frampton.
The foam, known as AFFF, was widely used to fight fuel-based fires but was banned due to its PFAS content. Salisbury firefighters have since stopped using it, but without a functioning take-back system, the material has nowhere to go.
“We had to comply with, the city complied, met the timelines, budgeted an additional $35,000 to replace all of our foam at a one-time expense," said Frampton. "The states not held up their end of the bargain, their end of the program."
State officials acknowledged early on that the disposal effort would be challenging. Maryland allocated $500,000 to get the take-back program off the ground, but in 2023, the Maryland Department of the Environment warned it might not be enough.
MDE noted in its 2023 Maryland PFAS Action Plan that "it is unclear if this will be sufficient due to the high demand for PFAS."
As of 2026, that concern appears to have materialized.
Salisbury is not alone. The Mt. Vernon Fire Company in Somerset County told WBOC it still has about 50 gallons of banned foam in storage.
For departments across the region, the question now is when, or if, the state will follow through.
For now, the hazardous material remains where it has been for years: sitting in storage, waiting for a solution.
