Inside a humid warehouse in west Columbus, near where I-70 and I-270 meet, the PFAS Annihilator is humming over box fans cooling the room.
The remediation technology, invented by researcher Batelle and used commercially by Revive Environmental since 2023, uses extreme heat and water oxidation to destroy PFAS. Those so-called forever chemicals have been linked to decreased fertility, increased risks of some kinds of cancer, and reduced immunity, among other health concerns.
Revive Environmental Chief Executive Officer Rick Gillespie called PFAS “the most challenging environmental contaminant we’ve ever faced.”
“It accumulates in human tissue, and it’s toxic, at levels we’ve just never seen before,” Gillespie told reporters Tuesday.
Right now, Revive Environmental is working to mitigate PFAS in aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF. Firefighters had long used the foams to extinguish flames.
And it has gotten the attention of the federal government. Officials, including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, toured its offices Tuesday afternoon.
“There are some key technologies that are being utilized here that EPA has been very heavily looking at, both internally but also with public-private partnerships,” Zeldin told reporters.
In 2024, the Biden administration issued legally enforceable drinking water standards for PFAS, set to start in 2029.
But under President Trump, the EPA is rolling some of those back, including allowing some water systems an extra two years—until 2031—to meet standards. Zeldin said that is because governments are shouldering the high cost to do so.
“There are a number of other water systems that have come to us,” he said, “saying that they are having trouble to be able to afford that technology.”
Zeldin also visited Granville and Chillicothe for related “Great American Comeback” tour events Tuesday.
