State and Brunswick-area officials are still trying to clean up and assess the spread of toxic firefighting foam that was released by a malfunctioning suppression system at the Brunswick Executive Airport on Monday morning.
As of Tuesday, some of the foam appeared to have migrated out of the airport hangar where it was initially released and into a nearby pond, according to Town Councilor James Ecker. The foam is contaminated with dangerous PFAS chemicals.
The malfunctioning system released a total of about 1,600 gallons of firefighting foam, mixed with 60,000 gallons of water, into hangar 4 at the airport in Brunswick Landing. As of Tuesday, officials were still unable to say exactly how much of the foam was released into the surrounding environment, though Brunswick Fire Chief Kenneth Brillant said the “majority” had been contained within the hangar.
As some of the foam entered the stormwater drainage system, it has already been discharged into local waterways. There are no drinking water wells at the site of the spill, Brillant said at a Brunswick Town Council meeting Monday night, but residents have still expressed concern over their safety.
“The worst fears that we have had have happened,” said Suzanne Johnson, who is the co-chair of the committee that works with the U.S. Navy on the environmental restoration of the former naval air base that is now Brunswick Landing. “And we were worried about a teacup-full of PFAS being released, and instead, we have 1,800 gallons.”
Several state and local organizations, including the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, Clean Harbors, the Brunswick Fire Department and others responded to the spill and have been working to clean up the contaminants.
But PFAS are notoriously hard to remove from the environment, earning them the nickname of “forever chemicals.”
The Brunswick & Topsham Water District has been receiving calls all day about water quality, according to its website. When a reporter called on Tuesday, the receptionist said it had been a “crazy day,” and that nobody at the office was available to take questions, though a voicemail message could be left.
The district said on its website it’s been testing water throughout the day for PFAS, and it remains clean and drinkable.
David Madore, a spokesperson for Maine DEP, said Brunswick residents should avoid contact with the foam and not take any fish from waterways bordering Brunswick Landing. He said the water district discontinued its use of the wellfield closest to the landing as a precautionary measure, and homes and businesses in the area can safely use water.
PFAS have been shown to cause long-term health effects when ingested, including cancer and birth defects, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brillant said the cleanup efforts are focused on the source. Officials are letting the foam dissipate, much like suds in a kitchen sink, until they’re able to be flushed into a system that will catch them and allow them to be moved to a safer place or destroyed.
PFAS in waterways
“You can’t just suck up foam in a vacuum truck, because it just fills things too quickly,” Brillant said at Monday’s meeting.
But once PFAS get into waterways, they’re difficult to remove, said Jean MacRae, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maine. Sewer systems with a wastewater treatment plant can filter some of the chemicals out. But it’s hard to stop them once they enter soil or stormwater drains.
“If I lived near there, I’d be monitoring my water,” MacRae said.
