The Environmental Protection Agency is giving Brunswick Executive Airport until 2027 to clean or replace its fire suppression systems, but it is not fining the airport or holding it responsible for any off-campus pollution caused by Maine’s biggest ever toxic foam spill.

The consent agreement between the EPA and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, a quasi-public agency created to revive the Brunswick Naval Air Station after its closure in 2011, was signed last month, but the deal wasn’t publicized until Thursday.

More than 50,000 gallons of old firefighting foam containing a mix of harmful so-called forever chemicals spilled out of a malfunctioning fire suppression system in an empty airport hangar in 2024. It drained into the sewer and stormwater systems and into surrounding ponds, streams and rivers.

It was the biggest foam spill in Maine history and the sixth biggest in the nation, at that time.

“We are dedicated to addressing releases of PFAS,” said Mark Sanborn, who is the head of the EPA’s New England office. “The agreement with Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority will better protect Maine residents and local water quality so a release like this never happens again.” 

The deal doesn’t ask MRRA to do much it hasn’t already done or that wasn’t already required under state law. The firefighting foam is already gone — the Navy removed some, the spilled foam went to Arkansas or Ontario for incineration, and American Airlines bought what was left.

The consent agreement does require MRRA to clean or remove the fire suppression systems in all of its hangars, not just the one where the spill occurred, but that is something the agency had already promised local and state officials it would do.

The Navy has already cleaned the hangar where the spill occurred and another hangar didn’t need cleaning because it had never been used. Only two disconnected suppression systems still need to be cleaned.

MRRA has to decide if it will clean those systems or replace them, according to Dan Stevenson, MRRA’s executive director. It will make that decision by the end of this year, when it is required to submit a cleanup plan to the EPA, he said.

The cost to clean the two remaining fire suppression systems and dispose of the water used to rinse them out will be about $750,000, Stevenson said.

Rinsed out or new, MRRA will use a combination of water-based fire suppression systems and hand-held fire extinguishers in any hangar that is required to have them under state or federal fire codes and aviation regulations, Stevenson said.

In August 2024, a poorly maintained fire suppression system malfunctioned and 51,450 gallons of firefighting foam spilled out of Hangar 4. The foam contained harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that have been linked to serious health problems.

Some public health advocates are disappointed by the terms outlined in the consent order.

Sarah Woodbury, the vice president of policy and advocacy with Defend Our Health, a Portland-based group campaigning for forever chemical safety, said the remediation outlined in the order only addresses the hangars, not the contamination that spread to the surrounding areas.

“What about reimbursing some of the residents with wells for any testing or filtration systems?” Woodbury asked. “It just seems like MRRA is not really being held accountable here for the larger contamination issue.”

Stevenson said he believed federal regulators were trying to reward MRRA for moving ahead with its cleanup even before being ordered to do so by the consent order.

“We view this agreement as an opportunity to demonstrate MRRA’s proactive leadership,” Stevenson said. “We’re moving swiftly and responsibly to implement long-term solutions that protect public health, our waterways, and our regional economy.”

Foam that had not spilled during the incident was still at the airport when state lawmakers took up a bill to remove all foam that contained forever chemicals from the airport, said Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, the bill’s lead author.

Thursday’s EPA consent order “closely echoes” the law that Maine adopted in May, Ankeles said.

“It’s not nothing to have the federal backstop,” Ankeles said. “I am grateful for that.”

As for the lack of a fine, Ankeles said he hoped that would free up money MRRA could use to address contamination that might have spilled off of the airport property and into the surrounding area.

Stevenson said his agency has to pay an outstanding $400,000 bill from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for its response to the August 2024 spill. MRRA has already spent $1.8 million on the cleanup, he said.