Latest news with #BrunswickExecutiveAirport
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
PFAS bills introduced in Brunswick spill aftermath receive sweeping support, await funding
Approximately 1,600 gallons of foam containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, was accidentally discharged at Brunswick Executive Airport's hangar 4 on Aug. 19, 2024. (AnnMarie Hilton/ Maine Morning Star) Though there are still funding details to sort out, a slate of proposals brought forward after 1,500 gallons of toxic firefighting foam concentrate spilled in Brunswick last August have been backed by the Maine Legislature. 'Since August 19, 2024, hardly a day has gone by where our delegation hasn't put work into an entire suite of legislation both to help Brunswick recover and, even more importantly, to make sure that what happened to us cannot happen anywhere else,' said Rep. Dan Ankeles (D-Brunswick) on the House of Representatives floor earlier this month. On Wednesday, the Senate passed the last of a package of three bills that Ankeles crafted in the aftermath of the spill to help rid Maine of Aqueous Film Forming Foam, also known as AFFF, which was historically used for firefighting and has been linked to harmful effects to humans and the environment. Accidents not waiting to happen The final proposal to receive initial passage votes would establish a voluntary, statewide takeback program for the foam. The Senate approved LD 222 30-0, and it will now go back to each chamber for final enactment votes. AFFF contains perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, which has been linked to serious long-term health problems including cancer. Knowing these concerns, the state restricted use of the foam in 2021, but it is still stored at airports, fire stations and other industrial sites throughout the state. Ankeles' bills received sweeping bipartisan support from the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the chambers at large. However, two of the bills have been sent to the budget committee to determine whether they will be funded. Another bill in the package, LD 407, directs the quasi-governmental agency that manages the airport where the spill happened, called the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, to stop using and get rid of the toxic firefighting foam that is still at the site. Since the bill doesn't tap into state funds, Ankeles said he's working with the agency to secure the funding it will need to get rid of the chemicals. 'Getting this resolve to the chief executive's desk will help my constituents — and Rep. [Cheryl] Golek's constituents just a couple of streets over — rest a tiny bit easier knowing that the toxic AFFF will never again be deployed in our community,' Ankeles said last week before the bill received a 128-14 vote in the House. LD 407 received final enactment votes this week and will be sent to Gov. Janet Mills for her approval. Ankeles' two bills awaiting funding are meant to not only protect Brunswick but all Maine communities from future toxic spills. Those two proposals are LD 400, which will create a publicly available inventory of the firefighting foam in the state, and LD 222. These will not only help the state know how much of the toxic foam still exists, but also assist fire departments that don't have the budgets to properly dispose of it. After approval from both chambers, LD 400 was placed on the special appropriations table in late April with a fiscal note of about $86,000 annually for the next two years. That money would be used to cover the cost of a new position to compile the inventory. While it is now up to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, Ankeles said he is hopeful it will get funded after he worked with the Department of Environmental Protection to find a way to fund the proposal without using the state's general fund. With a $5 million fiscal note, LD 222 will likely also end up on the appropriations table. It will first go back to the House for a final enactment vote and then return to the Senate. Since the bill asks for one-time funding rather than ongoing support, Ankeles hopes that will put it in a better position to be funded in a tight budget-cycle. However, he said he is also going to advocate for the Environment and Natural Resources Committee to rank LD 222 as the committee's top priority to receive funding from the budget committee. Of all the bills the committee worked on this session that will cost money, Ankeles said this takeback program could have the 'biggest impact.' 'It will create the infrastructure with a single spending action that is not ongoing and the state will be able to get rid of every drop of this terrible poison,' he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Unsafe levels of forever chemicals found at Brunswick golf course
Mar. 17—Unsafe levels of forever chemicals have been found in the well water of a golf course about a mile and a half southwest of the Brunswick Executive Airport, the location of Maine's largest documented spill of firefighting foam laced with toxic forever chemicals. The results of a Jan. 23 test at Mere Creek Golf Course — 33.1 parts per trillion of the six forever chemicals that Maine limits in drinking water — has Brunswick and Maine officials calling on the Navy, which operated a naval air base there until 2011, to run more tests. The state thinks this contamination may be a result of the Navy's past activities at the base, not the spill. The 33.1 parts per trillion, or ppt, is 65% higher than the 20 ppt limit allowed by Maine's drinking water standards. New federal drinking water limits cap perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, at no more than 4 ppt. The golf course's PFOS level is 19.9 ppt. Officials previously have told the public that this area was safe in the wake of the August 2024 spill that sent 1,450 gallons of concentrated aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, and 50,000 gallons of water into a parking lot, down sewer and stormwater drains, and into nearby retaining ponds. There are two homes located on Harpswell Road within 1,000 feet of the golf course well, and three more just beyond 1,000 feet. To date, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has concentrated its residential well testing on homes east of the Brunswick Executive Airport. Brunswick Town Manager Julia Henze met this week with the two homeowners closest to the golf course to inform them of the results, which were conducted in January and sent to a lab for analysis. The Maine DEP just released the results to the town this week. The department doesn't believe the golf course well is related to the August 2024 spill because hydrological maps suggest the chemicals spilled at Brunswick Executive Airport's Hangar 4 would flow south and east. It wants the Navy to test to determine if past operations at the base led to the golf course contamination. "Given its proximity to the former NAS Brunswick, the Navy should investigate this area more thoroughly than in the past to evaluate the potential that PFAS from past Navy activities has impacted this well," Iver McLeod, DEP's project manager, said in a Feb. 27 letter to the Navy. The Navy's cursory investigation of this general area of the former base is not enough, McLeod wrote. Despite the state's belief that the August spill didn't cause the contamination, the well is testing much higher now than it was before. In 2015, the well tested at 20.85 ppt for the six forever chemicals Maine limits for safe drinking water. In 2021, the well tested at 19.21 ppt. Built in 1958, the nine holes at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station began as a facility for military personnel, veterans and their guests. When the base closed, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority was created to redevelop the land. It owns the course and leases it to Harris Golf Company. The well servicing the Mere Creek Golf Course was previously regulated as a public water supply, but it became a private well when the Navy transferred ownership because the facility did not use the water for consumption or food preparation, the Maine DEP said. The MRRA plans to install a water filtration system at the golf course clubhouse before it opens for the season, said Daniel Stevenson, the agency's new director. He said the Navy planned to resample the golf course well and then review its maps and records to determine the source of the contamination and what to do next. "It is critical that we prioritize the health and safety," Stevenson wrote in a March 12 statement. ASKING NAVY TO GO FURTHER Brunswick wants the Navy to go even further and sample the monitoring well at the former Harpswell Road quarry and any other monitoring wells on the western border of the former naval air station. The quarry well hasn't been tested since 2014, and sampling methods have improved significantly since then. "Sampling at this location, and others along the western boundary, would provide us with some indication to assess if any other private residential wells may be impacted south of where the Brunswick Topsham Water District public water line ends," Henze, the town manager, wrote in a March 11 letter to the Navy. According to the federal data, 1,200 spills of firefighting foam containing toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, have occurred across the country since 1990. The 2024 Brunswick spill was Maine's biggest and the sixth largest in the country. The foam is used by firefighters to fight high-intensity fuel fires at military bases, civilian airports, fuel terminals and industrial plants that use a lot of chemicals, such as paper mills. The foam forms a film that acts like a blanket over the fire, depriving it of the oxygen it needs to burn. Firefighting foam is the most common source of forever chemical contamination in the U.S., according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but PFAS has shown up in trace amounts almost everywhere, from Arctic polar bears to Maine dairy farmers. Even trace amounts of some PFAS are considered a public health risk, according to federal regulators. High exposure over a long time can cause cancer. Exposure during critical life stages, such as in early childhood, can also cause life-changing harm. While manufacturers can no longer use two variants of the chemicals, large amounts of "legacy" PFAS-containing foam are still out there. Maine doesn't know how much it has — it estimates about 50,000 gallons — and lawmakers are considering a bill this session to conduct a statewide survey to find out. The Brunswick spill has also prompted lawmakers — led by Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick — to introduce a bill to launch a state-funded AFFF take-back program to collect unwanted foam and store it safely until an acceptable disposal method is found. The program has a $5 million estimated price tag. A legislative committee has backed both bills, but neither has reached the House or Senate for a vote. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Still reeling from PFAS spill, Brunswick residents push back on plans for sludge treatment plant
Brunswick Executive Airport. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star) Brunswick resident Sandra Carslick said she and her neighbors have been living in a 'bad dream' for the five months since 1,600 gallons of toxic foam spilled so-called forever chemicals at the already contaminated former Naval Air Station nearby. At a Brunswick Town Council meeting on Monday night, Carslick said that bad dream could soon become residents' 'worst nightmare,' if the town reopens a processing site for chemical-laden sludge from sewer treatment plants across Maine, and potentially beyond. The residents were responding to plans from Delaware-based Viridi Energy to update and expand Brunswick Landing's anaerobic digester, which converts sewage sludge — also referred to as biosolids — into renewable natural gas and byproducts that get sent to landfills. During Monday's presentation to the town council, company representatives explained how the facility would work and what local residents could expect. Several councilors said they would like to see additional data before deciding, but some already expressed concerns that the project isn't right for Brunswick, particularly at this time. Members of the public also spoke for more than an hour, overwhelmingly concerned about the project and its potential to bring more harmful chemicals into the area. The town is still dealing with the accidental discharge last summer of firefighting foam containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, at a hangar at Brunswick Executive Airport, which is also situated at Brunswick Landing. The spill has prompted environmental and public health concerns over the PFAS, which have been linked to serious long-term health problems including cancer, weakened immune systems, developmental issues, and more. Since it started surveying and reviewing the material in the late 1980s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found more than 700 chemicals in sewage sludge, including PFAS. Chet Benham, a senior advisor and one of the founders of Viridi, tried to address those concerns during the meeting, telling residents the facility will operate according to all state and local requirements. He said there are protocols to prevent spills of the sludge that will move through the closed-loop facility. 'We feel really, really good about it,' Benham said. 'We wouldn't be standing here before you if we didn't.' According to Viridi's plan, the facility would take in about 85,000 tons of biosolids per year, which would be processed into renewable natural gas that would feed into Maine Natural Gas. About 10,000 tons of solid material byproduct would be sent from the plant to the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town. Over the course of the discussion, it came to light that Viridi would also likely bring in sludge from outside of Maine in order to run their facility at full capacity. Some digester infrastructure already exists in the area, but it hasn't been used in recent years. Viridi plans to start construction and renovations this spring with a goal of starting operations at the plant in 2026. Under normal operations, up to 15 trucks a day, five to six days a week, would carry sludge through the surrounding neighborhoods and into the facility. Viridi still needs to submit a contract zoning application before the council canapprove the plan. However, John Shortreed, an engineer with Viridi, said it has already applied for permits with the Maine Department of Environmental of Protection and Brunswick Sewer District. Maine has been dealing with a shortage of landfill space, so a benefit of anaerobic digestion process is its ability to reduce the amount of material ultimately sent to the landfill. The Juniper Ridge Landfill has applied for an expansion and is awaiting final approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Highlighting benefits for the local community, Benham said the facility would create five full-time jobs, 100 temporary construction jobs and enough renewable natural gas to heat half of the single-family homes in Brunswick. He said the project would prioritize using local trades and people. While the new Trump administration has recently taken steps to roll back efforts to better limit PFAS in water, Maine was an early adopter and national leader in regulating forever chemicals. After identifying widespread contamination on farmland due to the application of PFAS-laden sludge, the state adopted a phased-in ban on PFAS in most products. In 2022, Maine became the first state to ban land application of sludge and the sale of compost containing sludge. Maine Rep. Dan Ankeles (D-Brunswick), who attended the town council meeting, said he has concerns about revamping a digester near the town's fastest growing residential area and bringing sludge into the exact site of one of the worst chemical discharges in state history. Since the spill, Ankeles has been working on legislation to protect his community and the rest of the state from similar PFAS spills. He's put forth a package of legislation seeking to remove and regulate the chemical-laden firefighting foam. Though he doesn't get a formal vote on this matter, Ankeles said 'it will take a lot to convince me this is anything remotely close to a good idea.' State Rep. Poppy Arford, a Democrat who represents the western part of Brunswick, also attended the meeting Monday night. She requested that the council really seek to understand the risk to the environment and people who live in the area. She also asked that the company be required to have adequate insurance to cover the risks associated with the work. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
