Cleanup of 51,450 gallons of firefighting foam and PFAS-contaminated water continues at a Navy-owned, privately leased hangar and its surrounding area in Maine -- the second accident in two months involving stockpiles at active and former military installations.
A fire suppression system in a hangar at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station was triggered by mistake on Aug. 19, discharging 1,450 gallons of aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, and 50,000 gallons of water into the building, nearby stormwater drains, sewer systems and drainage ponds at what is now part of Brunswick Executive Airport.
The Navy had planned to remove the foam, which contains PFAS chemicals – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – in October, according to Washington, D.C.-based advocates the Environmental Working Group.
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While the Navy was not responsible for the spill, the service is communicating with the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which leases portions of the former base and is in charge of the cleanup, according to David Bennett, the public affairs officer for the Base Realignment and Closure Project Management Office.
"The Navy is taking action across the country to remove AFFF from mobile systems, hangars or other structures located on property the Navy owns, including properties leased to third parties," Bennett said in a statement to Military.com on Sept. 9.
PFAS chemicals are commonly referred to as "forever chemicals" because they do not break down in the environment and can accumulate in the human body. They have been linked to a number of health conditions, including testicular and kidney cancer, low birth weights, and other medical issues.
Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency placed new limits on the acceptable levels of certain types of PFAS in drinking water following extensive research that found the substances potentially were harmful in any amount.
The Brunswick discharge followed a spill in July of more than 7,000 gallons of water contaminated with PFAS at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. According to a news release from installation officials Aug. 30, the water, which contained AFFF, had been removed from emergency vehicles as part of the Air Force's effort to remove PFAS-based foams from its systems.
After the Brunswick discharge, Jared Hayes, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group, told Military.com that the prospect of spills has been "looming over communities across the U.S.," especially those near active and former Defense Department bases.
"Some of the biggest spills in the country in the past have been from military installations because they have such a concentrated and large inventory of [AFFF]," Hayes said in an interview Aug. 29.
The fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required the Defense Department to stop using AFFF for training and operations after Oct. 1, 2024, except on ocean-going vessels, where uncontrolled fires pose a significant threat to equipment and personnel.
As a result of the deadline, the services have started removing their stockpiles from more than 1,500 facilities and 6,000 pieces of portable equipment and vehicles.
The DoD announced in July, however, that it needed a one-year waiver to extend the deadline because, while it had made "significant progress" in meeting the law, it needed time to remove AFFF from all of its assets and additional time to install systems that use an alternative foam.
"DoD is committed to eliminating AFFF for use for firefighting operations across its installations," officials said in a briefing July 1.
Hayes said his organization expects the DoD to use a second waiver allowed under the law and extend the removal process through October 2026.
"The DoD really needs to step up what they've been doing and make it a much bigger priority to remove these legacy firefighting foams from their active systems, contain them and make sure there isn't a risk of contamination like what happened at Brunswick," Hayes said.
The Brunswick town council passed a resolution Sept. 3 calling for a full investigation into the spill and disabling of PFAS-based foam suppression systems at other hangars at the facility.
"This event is a public health and environmental catastrophe unlike any other our community has ever seen," Brunswick Town Council Chairwoman Abby King wrote in a letter accompanying the resolution to Maine Gov. Janet Mills. "My community is desperate for answers as to how the damage of this event will be mitigated, their health protected, and future incidents prevented."
As of March 31, the DoD has assessed 710 of 717 active and former installations for potential releases of PFAS chemicals and subsequent contamination. It has found 578 that need further study and has started those additional investigations at 350 locations, according to the department.
Brunswick Naval Air Station officially closed in 2011.
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