Doug Self and his wife, Amy, are tired of living like they’re camping in their home of 30 years.
State testing recently revealed that their private well is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or “forever chemicals.” While the contamination level is considered safe to drink under Maine standards, it’s higher than new federal limits that will take effect in 2029.
It’s also higher than the results from a test the U.S. Navy did at their home in 2016, because they live near the former Naval Air Station in town. The amount of PFAS in their well at that time was below any current or pending limits, according to a copy of the results.
As a result, the Brunswick couple has been taking precautions to not ingest their well water.
They’ve spent about $500 on bottled water, using large, five-gallon jugs for drinking, cooking and brushing their teeth. To avoid washing dishes, they’re eating with paper plates and plastic utensils. They take their laundry elsewhere to wash it, and Doug Self has been taking showers at the local golf club.
“It’s stressful to live like this and have no resolution,” Doug Self said.
The Selfs are one of seven households in Brunswick that have shared test results with the Bangor Daily News that show their private wells have PFAS contamination at levels above the limit of 4 parts per trillion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to start enforcing in 2029 — although the standards will only apply to public drinking water and not to private landowners.
While many other Maine homeowners have also found elevated PFAS levels in their private drinking water, what stands out is that the Brunswick contamination was found after an incident last August in which 50,000 gallons of water contaminated with PFAS-laden firefighting foam spilled out of a hangar at the Brunswick Executive Airport and into the surrounding environment. Now, the residents are concerned the contamination could be related to the leaked firefighting foam.
It’s not clear that the spill did cause the contamination. State officials say that they likely aren’t related, and one of the homeowners had testing from before the spill that found an even higher level of contamination.
But that has been little comfort to the residents, who are now spending thousands of their own dollars on bottled water and to get the chemicals out of their drinking supply.
The situation highlights how few easy choices Americans have as they learn more about the pervasiveness of PFAS chemicals, which have been used in everything from firefighting to food packaging to furniture over the decades.
“This water isn’t drinkable,” said Rob Whitehouse, another Brunswick resident who lives near the air base and has found elevated PFAS levels. “While we’re waiting for a system, we have bottled water. So your choice is: drink contaminated water, buy bottled water forever or buy an expensive filtration system.”
In 2022, Whitehouse tested his private well after hearing that officials closed a nearby pond that year. The 2022 testing by a private company revealed PFAS levels at 12.6 ppt, and a test in September of this year revealed PFAS levels at 9.4 ppt.
Whitehouse is investing close to $3,000 in a filtration system for drinking water in his home. Self said he plans to take out a loan to spend what will likely amount to over $20,000 to connect his home to public water — which officials have said was not contaminated by the foam spill.
Self’s test from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection came back at 6 ppt. Several of Whitehouse’s neighbors also tested their wells, using private companies, and found PFAS contamination. The five neighbors that shared their results with the Bangor Daily News had numbers between 6.25 ppt and 16.8 ppt.
Maine DEP maintains that the contamination in these residents’ wells is likely not from nearby Brunswick Landing, which the former naval air station is now called. Iver McLeod, a project manager at the agency, said since forever chemicals are in so many household items, any contamination from septic systems or other activities that release contaminants into the groundwater could show up in wells.
The issue for the residents is the uncertainty. The federal government has linked exposure to PFAS to increased risk of some cancers, a reduced ability for the body to fight infections, increased cholesterol levels and interference with the body’s natural hormones.
But the EPA, Maine DEP and the U.S. Department of Defense disagree about what concentration is safe in drinking water. The EPA released its guidelines in April that the enforceable maximum levels for two types of PFAS — PFOA and PFOS — are 4 ppt. However, the defense department claims these levels are at 12 ppt.
Meanwhile, Maine enforces the levels at 20 ppt for the sum of six chemicals in the PFAS family.
Because the levels at the homes of Self, Whitehouse and the other Brunswick residents fall below that state limit, they do not qualify for financial help for bottled water or filtration systems.
The Selfs have asked the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Agency, which is in charge of the former Navy base, to compensate residents for water testing kits, which cost at least $80, as well as supply bottled water and install filtration systems for those with contaminated wells.
But the agency responded to say, in part, that it’s too early to link the contamination to the release of firefighting foam in August, according to a Nov. 13 letter from Herman Nichols, a board member of MRRA.
Since the spill, MRRA has come under fire for its response as well as what critics say was insufficient maintenance that could have prevented it, with former executive director Kristine Logan stepping down in October amid mounting criticism.
Asked about the test results and helping the residents with contaminated wells, Jeffrey Jordan, MRRA’s deputy director, referred a reporter to Maine DEP and provided a memo summarizing the steps it has taken to remediate the spill and prevent future ones.
According to the memo, MRRA has been looking for a consultant to determine the cause of the fire suppression system malfunction, engaged a firm assess the risk of a spill at other hangars containing toxic foam, worked to develop a spill prevention plan and looked to replace its current foam with non-PFAS firefighting materials.
Doug Self said that he thinks the various agencies should be doing more to help residents like him, and that he plans to ask the town of Brunswick to reimburse him for the costs of connecting to public water.
“I think to be responsible, to take care of the residents, is the least they can do,” he said.
