Toxic foam spill in Brunswick spread to garden used by immigrants

Some of the toxic firefighting foam that spilled at Brunswick Executive Airport last week made its way onto a nearby community garden used by immigrants and asylum seekers, according to the organization that manages it, the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust.

Steve Walker, the land trust’s director, expressed concern about the potential contamination to the garden during a public forum about the spill on Thursday night, after he reported seeing foam land there in the days afterwards.

The firefighting foam, which has also made its way to some nearby bodies of water, contains harmful PFAS chemicals. Authorities say they’re doing a range of monitoring of water and soil for contamination related to the spill.

Walker also more broadly questioned how much outreach authorities have provided about the spill to the community of immigrants and asylum seekers — many of them from African countries — who have made homes in recent years in the area known as Brunswick Landing that includes the airport.

“Should we shut it down completely?” Walker asked officials at the forum, referring to the garden. “Should there be no harvest? Can that area ever be utilized again for organic gardening purposes?”

Andrew Smith, the state toxicologist for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention who attended the meeting, responded that state environmental officials are doing some testing of home gardens and that Walker should contact him personally to talk more.

The Maine CDC and Department of Environmental Protection did not immediately respond to a reporter’s requests for comment on Friday.

Brunswick-area residents have more generally criticized local and state authorities for lackluster communication surrounding the foam spill.

But much of that feedback has come from English-speaking residents. Walker expressed concern for how the immigrants who live in the affected area and don’t speak much English are getting their information.

The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust hosts its small New Mainer Community Garden , which consists of a few raised beds, outside its building in Brunswick Landing. Since the foam was released almost two weeks ago, Walker has seen it floating in a nearby pond.

There has been a vacuum truck pumping out foam that landed in the pond, Walker said. But at one point, he said, he saw the wind pick up some foam and deposit it on the ripening fruits and vegetables in the garden.

On Thursday night, Walker asked officials what he should tell the new Mainers about the foam.

The manager of the garden, Michee Mpela, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an interview, Walker said that he’s contacted Mpela about the foam. It’s fortunate, he noted, that the garden hasn’t seemed to be as actively used this year, so people may not be harvesting as much.

Anyone harvesting produce from the garden should at least wash it, Walker said. He said Jeff Jordan, the deputy director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, who is in charge of Brunswick Landing and the foam remediation, called him to apologize and offer assistance to the garden.

The redevelopment authority did not respond to a request for comment.