Report shows system deficiencies a year before firefighting foam spill at former Navy base

BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — A fire suppression system at a Brunswick Executive Airport hangar showed deficiencies about a year before it discharged gallons of firefighting foam containing harmful chemicals in Maine’s biggest accidental spill of the fire suppressant on record, according to a recently released report.

It’s not known, however, if those deficiencies, which included some non-functioning sensors, led to what happened on Aug. 19 i n Hangar 4. The system released 1,450 gallons (5,490 liters) of firefighting foam concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons (190,000 liters) of water at the former Navy base.

An investigation is underway into why the fire suppression system discharged. The foam, which contains chemicals known as PFAS, was removed and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention had advised the public not to consume or to limit consumption of freshwater fish from four nearby bodies of water.

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which is overseeing redevelopment of the property, recently released a fire suppression inspection and testing report from July 2023. The authority was actively trying to get a technician out to address any deficiencies following the report, Kristine Logan, the group’s executive director, told The Associated Press in an email on Friday. She said “no one was able to be scheduled.”

Logan also said the group also was working on finding alternatives to having an active foam system in the hangar.

“We were not ignoring the issue,” she said.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are found in everything from food packaging to clothing and are associated with health problems including several types of cancer. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency, for the first time, proposed limits on the chemicals in drinking water.

Brunswick Naval Air Station officially closed in 2011, and automated fire suppression is mandated in large hangars. The hangars once housed P-3 Orion subhunters and other aircraft.