Samples of fish taken near the former naval airbase in Brunswick have been found to be contaminated by PFAS chemicals from this past summer’s spill of toxic firefighting foam.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection said concentrations of the so-called “forever chemicals” in softshell clams, blue mussels and oysters were well above what are considered acceptable levels. The results took months to obtain due to the complexity involved in testing fish tissue samples, the DEP said.
And though later testing eventually showed a decline in concentrations, they were still higher than the state’s action level. Harpswell Cove has remained closed to shellfish harvesting since the spill. Additional results from a third round of shellfish sampling should be finished by March.
The DEP said do-not-eat advisories remain in place for brook trout, black crappies and American eel at Mare Brook and Merriconeag Stream. Those consumption advisories were based on historic data collected from the area before the August spill, but the DEP said they should remain in place in light of the new data.
