All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation have signed a letter pressing the U.S. Navy for answers about how it plans to help clean up the PFAS-laden firefighting foam spilled at Brunswick Executive Airport last month.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, Sen. Angus King, Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden all signed the letter one month after a malfunctioning fire suppression system dumped more than a thousand gallons of the foam mixed with 50,000 gallons of water into hangar 4 and the surrounding environment.
Brunswick Executive Airport is located at a former U.S. Naval base, and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority leases several hangars from the federal agency. The military is set to remove the remaining firefighting foam from hangar 4 and other locations at the airport this month.
In the letter, the delegation expressed concern that firefighting foam will remain at the airport even after the Navy removes some of the material.
“We ask for your commitment to coordinating with federal, state, and local partners in providing assistance as the clean-up continues. Further, we request a briefing on the status of the Navy’s involvement in these efforts at your earliest convenience,” the delegation said in the letter.
The letter comes after state lawmakers recently called for the Redevelopment Authority’s executive director, Kristine Logan, to resign following reporting in the Portland Press Herald that inspectors deemed the fire suppression system in hangar 4 “deficient” in June 2023, but the Authority failed to disclose the findings.
The Brunswick Town Council will be voting Monday night on whether to send a letter to Gov. Janet Mills with a nonbinding resolution passed earlier this month requiring the Authority to clean up the foam and provide more information about it.
