BRUNSWICK — Living in close proximity to Maine’s largest recorded spill of toxic firefighting foam has left Sandra and Jim Carslick apprehensive.

“I wouldn’t be comfortable inviting [a guest] over to our house and sitting down and having a glass of water, knowing our water is contaminated,” Jim Carslick said.

It was one year ago this week that 1,450 gallons of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water and spilled into the area surrounding Brunswick Executive Airport’s Hangar 4. The airport is part of the former naval air station that has been redeveloped by a quasi-state organization, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, and is known as Brunswick Landing.

The foam contains a toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) compound, one of several so-called “forever chemicals” that have been linked to serious health problems. Statewide, PFAS contamination stemming from the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer has been found in at least 100 farms and 500 residential properties as of this year, and experts say more is likely to be found as testing continues.

The environmental disaster in Brunswick prompted outcry from members of the community and beyond and led to new laws aimed at ensuring a similar spill never happens again in Maine.

But many nearby property owners like the Carslicks still have questions about the long-term impact. And other residents, officials and environmental advocates say the last 12 months have forced them to organize and come to terms with legacy contamination left behind by the Navy’s decades-long presence in Brunswick that hasn’t been fully addressed.

“We’re going to live with the specter [of the spill] for a long time,” said Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick.

The Carslicks count themselves lucky that the levels of PFAS in their well water is below federal and state drinking water standards, 4 parts per trillion and 20 ppt, respectively. Others, like their daughter and son-in-law, who live nearby on Coombs Road, have levels twice as high.

Scientists say even trace amounts of manmade PFAS compounds, which are used to make thousands of common household and industrial products like firefighting foam, can be harmful to people and have been linked to compromised immune and cardiovascular systems, decreased fertility, low birth weights, and several types of cancer.

“We want to keep getting tested and we want the Navy to take care of connecting us to town water, because we can’t bear that expense, and a lot of our neighbors can’t bear that expense,” Jim Carslick said.

IN AFTERMATH, ‘VERY LITTLE INFORMATION’

Residents of neighborhoods in and around Brunswick Landing say they remember watching in horror as fluffy blobs of escaped foam billowed around Picnic Pond in the days following the spill on Aug. 19, 2024.

The toxic mixture made its way out of the hangar, then entered the stormwater system and a series of ponds that drain into Harpswell Cove. Some found its way to a sanitary sewer system that eventually discharges into the Androscoggin River.

Although the town’s public drinking water supply was confirmed to be unaffected, nearby residents expressed concern over private wells, as well as PFAS contamination in soil, fish and surface water.

In the weeks following the spill, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention advised people against recreational activities that could put them in close contact with the foam.

That made Robert MacEwan, who lives on Prince’s Point Road south of the former base, worried about taking his kayak and sailboat out on Harpswell Cove.

“I realized I can’t do this anymore. We’re not going to be able to do this until we understand how bad it really is,” MacEwan said.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection collected surface water samples at retention ponds, Mare Brook and Harpswell Cove starting immediately after the spill. The sum of total PFAS in one site reached more than 250,000 parts per trillion on Aug. 22, 2024, an extremely high concentration. It appeared that contamination was flushing through the watershed and becoming more diluted over time, the department said.

It also warned people not to eat fish caught in four bodies of water located on or near the former air station because of elevated PFAS levels that predated the spill.

The concentration of PFAS found in fish in Merriconeag Stream and and Mare Brook greatly increased after the firefighting foam release. Maine’s Department of Marine Resources also closed a seasonal shellfish harvesting area as a precaution.

Results of PFAS analysis in shellfish tissue samples collected from Harpswell Cove three weeks after the spill had concentrations well above Maine’s standard for fish tissue. Additional shellfish sampling data from Harpswell Cove is now under review, the DEP said.

Brunswick Town Manager Julia Henze said there was a lot of confusion and anger in the spill’s immediate aftermath because little information was shared.

“If we’d have known then what we know now, then we would have sent out the alarm,” she said.

Residents soon packed Town Council meetings and formed a citizen advocacy group, Brunswick United for a Safe Environment. Town leaders called for action from the MRRA, the DEP and the Navy. State lawmakers tried to find answers for concerned residents.

Shortly after the spill, the DEP began a series of door-to-door well water tests in the Coombs Road neighborhood. The department also conducted testing of surface water, air, fish and shellfish.

A series of four samples of 35 private wells between September 2024 and July 2025 showed PFAS concentrations were present but below state drinking water standards. As such, the department did not recommend outfitting residential wells with filter treatment systems.

MacEwan, a member of Brunswick United, lives outside the area being assessed by the DEP but tested his own well water using at-home kits. They revealed between 4.1 and 9.2 parts per trillion for PFAS, above the federal Environmental Protection Agency standard of 4 ppt for safe drinking water but below state levels of 20 ppt.

There’s no way to tell if the contamination in his well can be attributed to the spill, decades of Navy activity or something else entirely, he said, but the numbers prompted MacEwan to buy a filtration system. Subsequent tests have not detected PFAS in his well, he said, but MacEwan continues to worry for the health of his neighbors.

‘THE SPILL THAT DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN’

The redevelopment authority faced criticism for initially refusing to shut off its remaining firefighting foam systems in two other hangars. Inspection reports also long warned that deficiencies in the systems could lead to a spill.

Brunswick Town Councilor Jamie Ecker said the authority was “dismissive” of concerns related to PFAS immediately after the spill.

Meanwhile, members of Brunswick Area Citizens for a Safe Environment and the Restoration Advisory Board — groups tasked with communicating with the state and Navy on base cleanup following its designation as a contaminated or hazardous Superfund site in 1987 — pointed to a long history of contamination left behind by the Navy, including several past spills of toxic firefighting foam.

“Hangar 4 was the spill that didn’t have to happen,” said David Page, a retired Bowdoin College chemistry professor and member of both groups. “The means were there to prevent it from happening, but nobody at MRRA or the Navy saw fit to do anything about it.”

Town and state officials said they were forewarned about the issue and attempted to raise the alarm.

“Before the spill I had been meeting with [the citizens’ group] and they specifically said to me, ‘If there’s ever another foam spill, it will be a disaster,'” said Ankeles, one of Brunswick’s state representatives.

The spill ultimately led to the resignation of Kristine Logan, who stepped down as executive director of the MRRA after the inspection reports revealing the high potential for an accidental foam discharge came to light.

Henze said the spill was a “wake-up call” for the authority, which she said had previously put economic growth above resident concerns.

GETTING RID OF REMAINING FOAM

The authority hired a new director, Dan Stevenson, this spring and has focused in recent months on getting rid of its remaining stock of toxic foam, something that was required by a new law Gov. Janet Mills signed in May.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers trucked away 975 gallons of concentrate from the airport’s Hangar 6 in April and is using it to study foam disposal methods.

And in July, the authority closed a $250,000 deal with American Airlines to sell the company 5,925 gallons of AFFF concentrate. The concentrate was set to be moved to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and the funds are intended to be used to flush the AFFF systems.

Within a year, all the remaining AFFF foam at Brunswick Landing was removed.

Even before the spill, Maine struggled for years with disposing of its stockpile of toxic AFFF. The most common methods — incineration, landfilling and deep underground storage — all have drawbacks.

In addition to the Brunswick-specific law, Mills also signed legislation to require the state fire marshal to compile a statewide inventory of AFFF and create a publicly available online database.

Another new law restructures the redevelopment authority to add more members from the Brunswick and Topsham communities to its board of trustees.

Finally, lawmakers backed a bill to create a statewide AFFF takeback program, which passed the Legislature without a funding source and will await action from the governor in the next session.

In March, state environmental officials expanded PFAS testing to an additional site around the spill at the Mere Creek Golf Course, after finding PFAS levels exceeding both state and federal standards. It is believed that the golf course contamination predates the August 2024 spill. The MRRA installed a PFAS filtration system at the course in May.

Stevenson said he wants to build trust between the authority and the community, continue to work with regulators and be transparent about any action the authority takes around PFAS.

“Everyone here wants to work together to try to find a way to mitigate environmental hazards … in one year, we’ve come a long way,” Stevenson said. “The one statement I can really make wholeheartedly: You cannot have another spill on this campus; there’s no concentrate left.”

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Environmental advocates say although Brunswick has rid itself of AFFF concentrate, the community is not out of the woods.

“There’s a sense when you talk to people around town about the issue, ‘Oh, yeah, that was last summer, I remember hearing about that, but that’s all cleaned up; it’s not an issue right now’ — in spite of the name ‘forever,'” said Ralph Keyes, a member of Brunswick United.

Katie Richards, CEO of Maine PFAS Laboratories, the state’s first lab to be licensed to test drinking water for PFAS, said her company has received some samples from Brunswick wells over the past year. The results have been mixed.

Richards recommends that anyone who gets their water from a well get it tested for PFAS to gain a baseline understanding of their exposure, then retest every two to three years and install a filter if needed.

The Maine Drinking Water Program suggests switching to bottled water or using a filtration system if well water exceeds 20 parts per trillion. The state has some funding programs available to address PFAS in public water systems and extend public water mains to private wells.

However, many residents near the former base have said they have had to pay out of pocket for those solutions, as their test results don’t reach the severity of the state standard.

The DEP on Monday said it is working with the Navy and federal environmental officials to investigate whether further well testing is necessary on the southwest portion of the base and the nearby area.

In response to concerns about the potential for air exposure to PFAS, the department also conducted ambient air monitoring but found levels below provisional health-based air screening levels. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is currently collecting tissue samples of deer, turkey and eiders in the area.

DEP Commissioner David Madore said his agency mobilized resources to “ensure the safety and well-being of the Brunswick community,” and will continue to do so.

“Our comprehensive response has included extensive assessments of the spill’s impact, ongoing monitoring of local water sources, and the implementation of remediation strategies designed to protect public health,” Madore said in an email.

Town officials, meanwhile, are still waiting on an analysis ordered by the redevelopment authority in January on the root cause of the spill. Stevenson said the report is currently being reviewed by legal counsel.

As for Brunswick-area lawmakers, Ankeles said the next steps are to fund and pass the statewide AFFF takeback program and address ways for private well owners to get information and assistance.

“The best thing that has come out of this is our feeling of community around our environment, around understanding what the former Naval Air Station is to Brunswick,” Henze said.