As you may have seen on the news or read about in the newspaper recently, concerns have been raised about the possibility that groundwater at Brunswick Landing is contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. In an attempt to clarify and shed more light on the issue, I want to share everything we know about PFCs at Brunswick Landing.
PFCs are found in many common household products. PFCs have been used since the 1950s in products such as nonstick cookware, food packaging, waterproof clothing, fabric stain protectors, lubricants and paints. PFCs also have been used in aqueous firefighting foam, or AFFF. AFFF has historically been used nationwide for firefighting at airports (both military and civilian), including the former Brunswick Naval Air Station (NAS).
PFCs are now an emerging contaminant of concern for EPA nationwide, and the agency is studying these chemicals due to concerns for the potential widespread exposure to humans, their persistence in the environment, their observed toxicity in animals and the lack of information to properly assess human health risk associated with these chemicals.
As emerging contaminants that had not previously been identified by EPA as contaminants of concern, PFCs had not been monitored or sampled for during previous investigations at NAS Brunswick (Brunswick Landing).
In 2014, the NAS Brunswick Technical Team (Navy, Maine DEP and the EPA) began an evaluation of PFCs at the former Naval Air Station (Brunswick Landing). The initial sampling program targeted potential source areas and areas of potential migration. The Navy investigation focused on sampling groundwater in areas where aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) had been used or disposed of (discharged) in the past to determine absence or presence of PFCs. Sampling was also conducted to evaluate whether PFCs, if present, have migrated from these potential source areas.
After an extensive records search and interview process, the Navy identified areas at which AFFF was most likely to have been used or disposed of at NAS Brunswick. A Navy contractor conducted historical research, and a site visit was conducted by a former Navy assistant fire chief and Maine DEP to inspect areas where AFFF may have been used or disposed.
The Navy performed field sampling of groundwater in the identified areas in October and November 2014. Groundwater samples were collected from 21 existing monitoring wells (including 17 site wells and 4 background wells), 15 new monitoring wells and from the Navy’s Groundwater Extraction and Treatment system. The Navy also sampled distribution (finish) water from the Brunswick and Topsham Water District’s Jordan Avenue pump station.
From the Navy’s initial round of sampling PFCs were not detected in background wells or in Jordan Avenue finish wells (BTWD). PFCs in excess of EPA and/or Maine criteria were detected in the effluent from the Navy’s Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System, and in several property-wide monitoring wells.
Since the completion of the 2014 sampling and monitoring, the Navy has continued its evaluation of PFCs at Brunswick Landing with a field investigation in June-July 2015 of the Picnic Pond System, Merriconeag Stream, and two background ponds that included surface water, sediment and pore water sampling. The Navy received the analytical data from this latest investigation in August 2015. Over the next several weeks, the Navy and the regulators will be validating this data.
With the exception of the golf course, all water used at Brunswick Landing comes from the Brunswick and Topsham Water District. Navy tests have determined that no PFCs are present in the BTWD water supply. In compliance with the property transfer documents from the Navy, no groundwater is used anywhere on Brunswick Landing except at the golf course, where pond water is used for irrigation. There is a well for the clubhouse. While Maine DEP believes there is no requirement to do so, the Navy plans on testing the well water used at the golf course.
We believe the Navy has been and will continue to be aggressive in its investigation of PFCs at Brunswick Landing. They continue to work closely with EPA, DEP and a local citizens group on plans for future sampling and monitoring activities and to develop plans to deal with any contamination found. We are confident that the Navy is making every effort to expeditiously identify the nature and scope of this issue and to implement any remedial actions determined to be necessary. In addition, we will continue to update the public on this issue as new information is provided.
Steve Levesque is executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.