Forever Chemicals

Top of Mind

Columbus Built a Machine to Kill “Forever”

“Forever chemicals” earned the nickname for a reason.

They resist heat, water, oil, and nearly every natural process that would normally break a chemical down. That durability made PFAS useful in everything from nonstick pans and waterproof clothing to food packaging and firefighting foam. It also helped the chemicals spread into soil, rivers, wildlife, and drinking water across the country.

Now, a Columbus company believes it has found a way to make “forever” considerably shorter.

Revive Environmental operates a PFAS destruction facility on the city’s West Side, where its ominously named PFAS Annihilator uses extreme heat and pressure to break apart some of the strongest chemical bonds known to science. The company says the process can reduce PFAS in concentrated waste to nondetectable levels in seconds, leaving behind water, inert salts, and a small amount of carbon dioxide.

That is different from how PFAS are usually handled.

Traditional water-treatment systems can capture the chemicals using carbon filters or specialized resins. But capture is not destruction. The contaminated material still has to be stored, transported, buried, or incinerated, which can move the problem somewhere else without fully eliminating it.

Revive’s technology uses a process called supercritical water oxidation. Water is heated and pressurized until it enters a state that is neither fully liquid nor gas. In that environment, chemical reactions happen rapidly enough to split the carbon-fluorine bonds that make PFAS so stubborn. It sounds like science fiction, but the system has been operating commercially since 2023.

Earlier this month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, Ohio EPA officials, and leaders from Battelle toured the Columbus facility to watch the process in action. Revive says treated water is independently tested before being discharged, and the facility operates under permits from both the Ohio EPA and the City of Columbus.

The first target is not the water coming directly from your kitchen faucet. Revive is currently processing concentrated PFAS waste, including old firefighting foam collected from fire departments, airports, industrial sites, contaminated groundwater, and landfill runoff. Ohio’s firefighting-foam collection program alone has sent thousands of gallons toward destruction.

That distinction matters. Columbus currently says its three drinking-water plants comply with federal PFAS requirements, although very low levels of the chemicals have been detected and the city has tested proactively since 2019. PFAS exposure is also much larger than drinking water alone. The chemicals have been used in household products since the 1940s and are now found throughout the environment and in the blood of people and animals around the world.

The cleanup problem is enormous. The EPA recently made more than $20 million available for Ohio communities to test for and address PFAS and other emerging contaminants. Across the country, water systems are facing expensive decisions about new treatment equipment, disposal, and who ultimately pays for contamination created decades ago.

Revive does not solve every part of that problem. PFAS still need to be removed from drinking water, collected, concentrated, and delivered for treatment. Preventing manufacturers from releasing more of the chemicals remains far cheaper than cleaning them up afterward.

But destroying them is a major step beyond simply trapping them in another container and handing the problem to the next generation.

For years, Columbus has watched companies arrive promising to build the technologies of the future. This one is already running on the West Side, taking one of the most persistent pollutants ever created and attempting to give it an expiration date.

Scarlet Letter Trivia

Question: What year was Ohio’s worst in economic terms?
A. 2009
B. 1997
C. 2010
D. 1983

The Columbus Food Truck Festival Is Back

The Columbus Food Truck Festival returns to the Franklin County Fairgrounds on August 14 and 15, bringing together more than 45 food trucks, live music, local makers, and an expanded Kids Zone.

Now celebrating its 15th year, the festival has grown from its original home at Columbus Commons into one of Central Ohio’s biggest food events, drawing more than 25,000 people each year. It has also donated more than $115,000 to local charities along the way.

The festival runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard.

Come hungry, bring a few friends, and buy your tickets before the lines start forming.

Ohio Is Officially America’s Best State for Business

Ohio has spent years trying to turn “The Heart of It All” into more than a tourism slogan. According to CNBC, it may finally have the receipts.

Ohio has been named America’s No. 1 state for business in 2026, climbing from fifth place last year and 34th place in 2010. It is the first time Ohio has topped CNBC’s annual rankings since the study began in 2007, and the first win for a Midwestern state since Minnesota in 2015.

CNBC evaluated every state using 138 measurements across 10 categories. Ohio earned the top ranking in both infrastructure and cost of doing business, while also finishing ninth in the economy, access to capital, and cost of living.

The infrastructure win was especially important this year. For the first time, CNBC made it the study’s most heavily weighted category, examining roads, railroads, airports, utilities, available development sites, electrical capacity, and the speed of state permitting. Ohio earned an A+ and the top spot nationally.

The state benefits from the country’s fourth-largest interstate highway system, one of its largest freight-rail networks, and a location within a one-day drive of 60% of the U.S. and Canadian populations. It also offers relatively affordable housing, shovel-ready industrial sites, and no traditional corporate income tax.B) Stewarts Grove

That combination has helped Ohio land projects from Intel, Anduril, Joby Aviation, and the Honda-LG battery operation. Between 2019 and 2025, JobsOhio says its projects created 159,000 direct jobs and generated more than $99 billion in capital investment.

Of course, being good for business does not automatically mean every Ohio worker, neighborhood, or small town is feeling the boom. A ranking can measure roads, taxes, investment, and available land. It cannot guarantee that the jobs pay enough, the growth reaches every county, or the giant projects arrive on schedule.

Still, going from No. 34 to No. 1 in 16 years is not nothing.

Ohio is no longer merely promising companies that it is a good place to build. This year, CNBC looked at the entire country and agreed.

What the Boys & Girls Clubs Offer Columbus Families

For working parents, the hours between the final school bell and the end of the workday can create a daily childcare problem.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Ohio help fill that gap with supervised after-school programs where children can finish homework, eat, play sports, explore STEM and art, and spend time with trained staff.

The organization operates eight locations across Columbus, including three traditional neighborhood Clubhouses in Milo-Grogan, the South Side, and the Hilltop. These locations generally stay open until 7 or 7:30 p.m. during the school year, making them the closest option to traditional after-school childcare.

Programs include homework help, tutoring, physical activity, leadership development, financial literacy, career preparation, and college planning.

Summer care may be the biggest resource for families. The 2026 program runs for nine weeks, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The listed cost is $125 per child for the entire summer and includes breakfast, lunch, activities, and field trips.

Yes, $125 for nine weeks.

The Boys & Girls Clubs are not simply places for children to wait until pickup. They provide structured, affordable care while giving young people access to mentors, academic support, health programs, and a consistent place to belong.