Brunswick Executive Airport. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
Brunswick Rep. Dan Ankeles submitted three bill titles to the Maine Legislature on Tuesday aimed at removing and better regulating forever chemical-laden firefighting foam following the accidental discharge of the toxic material in his district last month.
One bill will propose a foam take-back program, similar to the one New Hampshire launched this summer. Another calls for the immediate removal of the foam from the site of the spill, Brunswick Executive Airport. The last is a measure to provide legislative authority to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a statewide inventory of the foam, as the exact amounts and locations of the toxic material remain unclear.
“Having the [bill] titles in is an important step so that our constituents in Brunswick know that when we say we’re going to move forward with a legislative response, we actually mean it,” Ankeles said of the draft legislation, which he noted are still far from complete proposals.
The 132nd legislative session begins next year, after lawmakers are sworn in following the results of the November election .
PFAS-laden firefighting foam spill reinvigorates calls for proactive government response
Ankeles plans to flesh out his proposals before the end of the calendar year with input from the DEP, the town of Brunswick, the governor’s policy team, the development authority that runs the airport, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), and the Brunswick Area Citizens for a Safe Environment, a nonprofit established to address contamination in the area .
His counterpart in the Senate, Democrat Mattie Daughtry, will be taking the lead on legislation to address the governance of the residential and business community integrated with the airport, Brunswick Landing, something the senator had tried to reform during her first session in office.
One of the first bills Daughtry proposed would have put a municipal representative from Brunswick on the MRRA board. Even though it is a regional entity, it is within the municipal boundaries of Brunswick. At the time, municipal leaders told her they felt there needed to be clear, regular channels of communication, Daughtry explained.
“Also, we wondered what would happen if there were a disaster — exactly what we went through on August 19,” Daughtry said, referring to the spill.
That bill ultimately failed between chambers, though Daughtry said she’s continued to work with the agency to try to bridge communication divides. As MRRA’s work has moved beyond the decommissioning of the airport as a former naval base to regulating aspects of Brunswick’s economic and environmental health, Daughtry said, “I’ve realized the charge of MRRA really needs to be re-evaluated.”
Posting something on your website doesn’t pass muster when it comes to an environmental disaster
– State Sen. Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick)
Communication is the biggest frustration Daughtry has heard from constituents since the latest spill. “Posting something on your website doesn’t pass muster when it comes to an environmental disaster,” Daughtry said.
Daughtry is planning for a suite of legislation that will range from calling for an examination of MRRA’s response to the latest spill to potentially changing the way the agency functions more broadly.
“I want those conversations that are moving forward with MRRA, with my constituents and with full accountability from the Legislature to guide additional bills as well,” Daughtry said.
Federal response
Brunswick’s town council passed a resolution earlier this month that included, among others, some of the immediate cleanup and accountability measures the legislators seek to implement with his bills. While this resolution is non-binding, both Ankeles and Daughtry said they hope it is respected at both the state and federal level.
Maine’s federal congressional delegation received the resolution and most have since echoed calls from local officials for immediate cleanup assistance and longer term prevention planning.
Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, who is a resident of Brunswick, attended the Brunswick town meeting on Aug. 29, where citizens voiced concerns about inconsistent communication following the spill and health implications from the forever chemicals — perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS — which have been linked to serious long-term health problems including cancer.
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King’s spokesperson, Matthew Felling, said the senator attended the meeting to determine how federal resources could be useful and that “he understands that state and local officials are taking the lead on the matter and will be following the comprehensive review very closely.”
Ankeles’ hope is that King and other federal officials can bridge the gap between those working on the issue locally and those in Washington who could also introduce related policy changes — including immediate cleanup assistance but also prevention of such contamination across the country.
“If what we do here in Brunswick helps prevent it from happening in other parts of our country and protects the health and well-being of our fellow Americans, if our unfortunate sacrifice of some of our environment ends up being a means of helping solve this nationally, we certainly welcome whatever good can come out of this terrible situation,” Ankeles said.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, whose district includes Brunswick, wrote in a statement, “it’s incredibly frustrating and unfortunate that the fire suppression system malfunction and resulting spill happened just weeks before the current system was set [to] be removed.”
Brunswick council passes resolution calling for state action to clean up firefighting foam
The U.S. Navy had planned to remove the foam from hangar four this month, which is still scheduled as some foam remains. Foam also remains in hangar six, which has raised concern from local officials and citizens because it is located closer to the water district. That foam is not scheduled to be removed but one of Ankeles’ bills, and the town council resolution, calls for the removal of all remaining foam at the airport.
“Strengthening regulations on the use and storage of PFAS, improving oversight at facilities that handle these ‘forever chemicals’, and updating emergency response protocols are all essential steps to prevent future accidents,” Pingree wrote. “I remain fully committed to working with all levels of government to address PFAS contamination and will continue advocating for the funding and policies needed to protect our communities and environment.”
King and Pingree have records of pushing for PFAS remediation efforts in Maine and across the country.
For example, before the spill King called for expanding testing and cleanup at current and former military installations, including Brunswick Executive Airport, which used to be a naval air station. A member of the Congressional PFAS Task Force , Pingree has similarly pushed for more urgent action to address the public health threat of PFAS.
“Mainers are unfortunately no stranger to PFAS,” Pingree wrote. “We have been at the forefront of this issue while other states are just beginning to take note. So while the situation in Brunswick and efforts surrounding the immediate response and cleanup are constantly evolving — and my staff and I are in regular conversations about next steps — my work on PFAS at the federal level is ongoing.”
Maine’s delegation, also including Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, has also pushed for federal assistance for farmers affected by PFAS contamination, which has been an acute issue in Maine after the government previously authorized farmers to spread sludge as fertilizer before it became known that it contained forever chemicals.
Collins did not respond to requests for comment about action she plans to take in light of the recent spill or her stance on the town’s resolution. While Golden does not represent Brunswick, his spokesperson Mario Moretto said the representative “believes that any hazardous waste spills in Maine should be cleaned up by the responsible authorities as quickly as possible.”
Latest sampling finds increased contamination
The DEP identified about 45 residential properties for private well PFAS sampling and will begin contacting those residents this week by going door to door on Coombs Road.
The latest sampling results released by the department last weekend showed PFAS concentrations have increased in areas where foam removal efforts have been ongoing, specifically at the outlet of Picnic Pond.
According to the DEP, this increase is likely because removal efforts and natural flow paths are drawing the foam to these locations.
PFAS concentrations have also increased in the salt marsh above Harpswell Cove since initial testing after the spill, which the DEP attributes most likely to residual contamination slowly moving through the system because of tidal cycling.
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