Maine
Maine officials trying to hide scale of ex-navy base PFAS spill, advocates suspect
A former US navy base in Maine has caused among the largest accidental spills of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” ever recorded in the nation, and public health advocates suspect state officials are attempting to cover up its scale by reporting misleading and incomplete data.
Meanwhile, state and regional officials were slow to alert the public and are resisting calls to immediately test some private drinking water wells in the area despite its notoriously complex hydrology, which could potentially spread the contamination widely.
The spill was caused by a malfunctioning fire suppression system in a hangar at the Brunswick naval air station near Maine’s coast, which released about 51,000 gallons of PFAS-laden firefighting foam into nearby surface water, leading to astronomical levels of PFAS contamination.
The levels in the foam reached as much as 4.3bn parts per trillion (ppt) – the drinking water limit for some PFAS compounds is 4ppt.
The government’s communication has been “unconscionable” and the data reporting was “problematic”, said Sarah Woodbury, director of Defend Our Health, a Maine-based non-profit that works on PFAS issues.
“Causing confusion like that, however unintentional it was, just increases the distrust that people have when it comes to government dealing with catastrophes like this,” she said.
PFAS are a class of about 15,000 compounds most frequently used to make products water-, stain- and grease-resistant. They have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems. They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down in the environment.
The 19 August spill sent toxic firefighting foam into storm drains and floating through the air in a nearby residential and business area. It occurred at the Brunswick executive airport, which is part of the former naval base that was listed decades ago as a Superfund site, a federal designation for the nation’s most polluted areas.
The base, which is now under civilian control and being redeveloped, has long polluted the local environment with a range of toxins, and several other smaller PFAS spills have occurred.
PFAS has been a main ingredient in firefighting foam because it is effective at extinguishing jet fuel fires, and is a main source of PFAS water pollution nationwide. Water at and around more than 720 military sites has been found to be contaminated with PFAS, though not at levels seen near the spill.
In the week after the spill, the Maine department of environmental protection, which is leading the cleanup, issued “do not eat” advisories for fish and began testing local ponds and waterways.
A 26 August progress report listed a reading for PFOS, one of the most common and dangerous PFAS compounds, as 3,230 parts per million (ppm).
Typically, PFAS levels are reported in ppt, which would mean the PFOS levels were about 3.2bn ppt. The 3,230ppm figure appears smaller than the staggering 3.2bn ppt figure. Similarly, the state reported water levels at 700ppt as 0.0007ppm.
It is unusual for PFAS water levels to be reported in ppm, said Jared Hayes, a senior policy analyst with the Environmental Working Group non-profit, which tracks PFAS pollution. The lab reported the results in ng/l, which is the same as ppt, but the state still changed the unit of measurement to ppm, raising suspicion and frustration among residents and public health advocates.
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In a statement to the Guardian, the state said it made the change for “ease of readability”.
Meanwhile, Maine only reported the number for PFOS, but it had also tested for 13 other PFAS compounds that tallied 1.1bn ppt. That included 64m ppt of PFOA, one of the most common and dangerous PFAS compounds.
The agency said it only disclosed the PFOS results because that showed the highest figure and was the primary chemical of concern.
The state said it would test a limited number of nearby wells, and would check more if needed. Woodbury said public health advocates were also urging the state to provide bottled water until the results are available in several weeks, and calling on it to do soil testing in the most affected areas.
The spill comes amid a military effort to switch to PFAS-free firefighting foam and dispose of the old, PFAS-laden product by October 2025, though it will probably not meet the deadline, Hayes said.
The foam was slated to be removed in October, and additional hangars still hold foam. It is unclear when that foam will be removed, and the situation highlights that “the [Department of Defense] needs to start acting swiftly to remove this from bases across the US”, Hayes said.
“The fact that this happens here means it can probably happen somewhere else, and with so much legacy foam out there it’s hard to say when or where it will happen next,” he added.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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