The foam spill at Brunswick Landing last August undercut public confidence in the safety of dispersed storage of AFFF stocks. (Photo courtesy of Steve Walker)
After a toxic spill last August, Brunswick Town Council member Sande Updegraph said many residents are still riddled with fears.
They are afraid to drink their well water, to bathe, to eat vegetables grown in gardens surrounding their homes. But they also fear people will forget about the devastation or that it may happen again in their community or another.
Most of all, Updegraph said, they are afraid no one is listening to them or has their backs.
“The efforts to remove these fears start with you people sitting around the table,” Updegraph told the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee during a public hearing Wednesday.
The hearing was for three bills from Rep. Dan Ankeles (D-Brunswick) designed to 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.
It’s an issue close to home for Ankeles, who represents the portion of Brunswick where approximately 1,500 gallons of the toxic firefighting foam was discharged in an airplane hangar last summer. The chemicals ultimately ended up in the groundwater, sewer system and multiple watersheds. Though the foam didn’t enter the public water system, it left nearby residents with private wells concerned about contamination.
“Please believe me when I say you would not want high concentrations of this stuff spilling in your community,” Ankeles told the committee.
Ankeles submitted the bills to the Legislature just weeks after the spill. Among many cosponsors, Ankeles’ counterpart from Brunswick, Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland), has signed on to the bills and is expected to introduce her own legislation regarding oversight of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which is in charge of the site where the spill occurred.
One bill addresses ongoing concerns in the local community, while the other two seek to tackle the issue statewide.
In an effort to protect his community from future spills, Ankeles introduced LD 407 to ban AFFF from all properties owned, leased or managed by MRRA, the quasi-governmental agency that manages the former naval base where the airport sits.
Ankeles told the committee, which he also serves on, that he wants to “ensure that our response to one community’s tragedy isn’t just a wasteful shrug.” Rather, Ankeles said he would like to see his colleagues rally around the notion that Mainers, as well as their land and water shouldn’t be exposed to poison.
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.
Updegraph was joined by other Brunswick town council members, as well as members of the firefighting, medical and environmental communities, testifying in support of the bills.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal supported LD 400, but spoke in opposition to LD 222 due to questions about agency resources. The concerns were not around the intent of the proposal.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection was neither for nor against the legislation, but Commissioner Melanie Loyzim said the department contemplated asking for the money needed for these bills in its biennial budget request but ultimately decided to prioritize other needs.
Statewide inventory and takeback program
The statewide bills would work in sequence with LD 400 directing the Office of the State Fire Marshal to do a full inventory of AFFF in the state, followed by the establishment of a statewide takeback program for the toxic foam through LD 222.
Loyzim told the committee that there is an estimated 50,000 gallons of foam remaining in the state; however, that is based on limited data the department attempted to gather a handful of years ago. Out of the 305 fire departments in the state, Loyzim said only about 60 responses along with fewer than 10 industry partners such as oil terminals or paper mills responded to the survey the state attempted in 2019.
A multi-part investigation published by Maine Morning Star detailed previous efforts by the state to collect this data.
The statewide inventory would start collecting information in July 2026 on any public entity with five gallons or more of AFFF concentrate. There would also be efforts to gather information from private entities to get a complete picture of how much exists in the state.
That proposal includes the addition of one, limited-time position in the fire marshal’s office at the cost of $86,000 per year for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Though the department didn’t get a high response rate when it tried to collect similar data a few years back, State Fire Marshal Shawn Esler said he expects nine out of 10 fire departments will participate. He also told the committee he would call any departments who don’t participate to gather data on their inventory.
The statewide takeback program is not proposed to come online until July 2027, with the hopes that the inventory would be mostly complete by then. Using the estimate of 50,000 gallons of foam, Loyzim said the department estimates it would cost $5 million to run the takeback program.
The department would be allowed to contract with a third party to administer the program that public and private sector entities would have the choice to participate in.
A program like this could be useful for towns like South Portland, where Fire Chief Phil Selberg said the department has spent over $70,000 on new fire suppression foam to replace its AFFF stock, but has had to delay the delivery of the new foam because they have struggled with how to safely and responsibly dispose of the toxic foam.
It could also be helpful to departments in smaller, more rural parts of the state that often rely on volunteers and small budgets.
Michael Scott, president of the Professional Firefighters of Maine, spoke in support of all three bills saying they could aid the organization’s efforts to enhance the health and safety of firefighters.
Though funding for these proposals wasn’t included in the department’s budget request, Ankeles said he wrote the bills to utilize money from the general fund. Committee members asked him if he considered funding from the state’s existing PFAS remediation fund or any settlement that may come from the Maine Attorney General suing AFFF manufacturers.
He expects there to be settlement money from that lawsuit, but Ankeles said he would like to see that money shared with constituents who have had to pay for their own drinking water or testing. As for the remediation fund, Ankeles pointed out that money was designed to support farms that are coping with decades of contamination.
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