Hangar and aircraft cleaned after firefighting foam was released at Brunswick Airport

BRUNSWICK, Maine (WMTW) – Officials say the Brunswick Landing Airport hangar that accidentally leaked firefighting foam last week has been completely cleaned and all of the leaked foam has been drained.

Monday’s announcement came a week after 1,450 gallons (about 6,900 liters) of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) were released at Brunswick Executive Airport.

Clean Harbors and Republic Services have been contracted to respond to the oil spill under the supervision of the Maine Department of Environment and Fisheries. The contracted teams are currently working to contain and clean up the affected areas.

According to officials, the affected aircraft have been cleaned and removed from the hangar. Once inside the hangar, the aircraft will undergo another round of cleaning and then the hangar will be cleaned one final time. The affected industrial spaces at TechPlace will also be steam cleaned by contracted response teams.

Officials also said Monday that four vacuum trucks have been sent to the four affected surface water retention ponds to remove the foam. All collected PFAS-contaminated water from the relief efforts will be shipped out of the country.

DEP staff have collected surface water samples at the detention ponds and Harpswell Cove. The results of these samples will be used to initiate immediate remediation actions and to continue monitoring for other potential impacts.

Four samples taken from the spill site on Monday, August 19, the day of the spill, show that PFOS is the predominant compound detected in the samples. PFOS and PFOA are part of a subgroup of PFAS known as perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAA). PFOS was detected in the AFFF product sample from the storage tank at 3,230 parts per million (ppm) and in the mixed product sample (AFFF + water) at 7.52 ppm. The sample from the surface water pond inlet had PFOS at 1.04 ppm, and the sample from the surface water pond effluent had PFOS at 0.000701 ppm.

The DEP states that the public water supply was not impacted by this incident and that homes and businesses served by the Brunswick Topsham Water District can safely use the water.

On Friday, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) issued new consumption recommendations for freshwater fish, recommending that consumption of fish from four bodies of water on and around the former naval airfield be either avoided altogether or restricted.

Officials said Monday that the AFFF continues to foam in the retention basins and it is unclear how long the foam will be present. Weather and rain can increase foaming due to water movement.

You should avoid contact with foam. If you see foam outside of restricted areas, report it to 207-844-8040. This number is for reporting AFFF foam only.

There are no reports of impacts on wildlife.

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