The last sprinkler inspections of the Brunswick Executive Airport hangars that use toxic foam to fight fires reveal that all three systems – not just the one in Hangar 4 that released last month’s record-setting foam spill – had multiple deficiencies that went uncorrected for more than a year.

The systems in Hangars 5 and 6 are still using aqueous film-forming foam, which is especially good at stopping fuel fires but contains especially high concentrations of toxic forever chemicals, and are dogged by a faulty control unit, aging parts, horn and strobe problems, and non-working flame detectors, inspection records show.

The flame detectors in Hangar 5 were intentionally covered to avoid an accidental discharge of foam, said Kristine Logan, the executive director of the airport’s governing body, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority. Airport staff feared that dust or light exposure would trigger a release.

After reading the latest reports, the Brunswick Fire Department joined a growing chorus calling for a shutdown of the airport’s foam sprinkler systems.

“There’s a big human element,” said Deputy Fire Chief Josh Shean. “We’re relying on the (tenants) to follow procedure. … We view that as a short-term solution.”

Fueled airplanes can only be parked inside hangars as large as the ones at Brunswick Executive Airport if they are equipped with a foam-based suppression system. The system doesn’t have to use foam that contains forever chemicals. Airports in other states use fluorine-free foam. Without a foam system, aircraft would have to be fueled up before use and defueled after use before they could be stored in one of the large hangars.

In the long term, Shean said that the redevelopment authority needs to switch over to an environmentally safer option.

The reports – which were posted on the agency’s website and emailed to municipal and state leaders – were conducted in July 2023.

“These are unacceptable vulnerabilities,” Logan wrote online. “We’ve reached out to Eastern Fire, our external contractor, as well as other contractors, for assistance, and are pursuing all avenues to address these problems head-on.”

Shean confirmed Logan’s assertion that the flame detectors that were disabled can be sensitive to flashes, making accidental releases possible. He said the Navy used to cover the flame detectors when doing “hot work” in the hangars to avoid an accidental release of the foam system. Shean, who is the department’s designated code enforcement officer, did not address the legality of that practice.

He did say the redevelopment authority should have fixed Hangar 6’s deficient strobe quickly because it is routine work.

Last week, Logan admitted that the authority had failed to disclose the July 2023 inspection showing that Hangar 4’s system needed repair – broken valves, extra weather stripping and dated parts. Logan initially said the last inspection of Hangar 4’s sprinkler was “clean.”

That revelation prompted local leaders to call for her resignation, although the authority’s board members have continued to support her.

Logan said that she didn’t know about the deficiencies and that a staff member, Facilities Director Eric Perkins, had told her Hangar 4 had tested clean. But multiple emails show that Perkins included Logan on his emails to Eastern Fire about the deficiencies.

On Wednesday, as she released the other inspections, Logan said the authority is committed to transparency.

“That starts today with a candid update on the situation and our plan to move forward,” she wrote.

Logan did not, however, respond to questions about what kind of toxic foam and how many gallons of it are in use at the two operational hangars. Questions about who covered the flame detectors in Hangar 6 and how long they had been out of service also went unanswered.

An employee at Eastern Fire referred questions to the owners, who were not in the office Wednesday.

Herman “Nick” Nichols, chair of the redevelopment authority’s board, said last week that a shutdown was not legally possible and would financially impact aviation tenants on the base.

BluShift Aerospace – which has office space in Hangar 6 but primarily works out of an outdoor facility that does not need foaming fire suppression systems with AFFF – said that while it would not be directly impacted by a shutdown, it was confident that the authority can fix the issues.

“Of course, we’re glad that MRRA is working to address this safety hazard,” CEO Sascha Deri said. “We realize this is at a very high expense to this marvelous resource that is Brunswick Landing. But we think this is the right move for everyone’s safety.”

The authority is working with industry experts to evaluate how to move Brunswick Executive Airport from an AFFF-based fire suppression system to one that uses water or fluorine-free foam, Logan has said. The cost estimate for removing the foam systems from all three hangars is approximately $8 million.

A spokesman for Gov. Janet Mills said the governor respects the MRRA board’s authority but “shares the concerns of local residents about the spill, and she is open to considering ideas that lawmakers may want to put forward to strengthen the governing relationship between the authority and the town and to improve oversight and safety when it comes to the use of aqueous firefighting foam.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Brunswick spill – 1,450 gallons of AFFF concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water – is the sixth-largest AFFF foam spill in the U.S. in 30 years, behind others in Florida, Alabama, Arizona (which had two larger spills) and Ohio.

According to the EPA data, which is based on information collected by the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Response Center, 1,200 spills of firefighting foam containing toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, have occurred across the country since 1990.

Even trace amounts of some PFAS are considered a public health risk, according to federal regulators. High exposure over a long time can cause cancer. Exposure to small amounts during critical life stages, such as in early childhood, also can cause life-changing harm.

The Brunswick Town Council passed a PFAS resolution this month calling for more comprehensive action from MRRA and requesting airport and operational information from the authority, including inventory of all PFAS-based AFFF foam concentrates at the airport.

Council Chair Abby King said she was still reviewing the recent reports but stood behind council’s call to shut the systems down by Sept. 30.

“I continue to view the foam systems currently operating in Hangars 5 and 6 as a significant threat to public safety and will do everything in my power to see them shut off,” she said.

State Rep. Dan Ankeles, who was among the lawmakers who called for Logan’s immediate resignation last week after the Hangar 4 inspection was published in the Portland Press Herald, said he fully expected to see deficiencies show up in the reports.

“On the one hand, I am glad to receive this information, because it was part of the council resolution,” Ankeles wrote in a social media post. “Yet I am also still puzzled as to why MRRA couldn’t have just told us this earlier.”

He said that authority’s estimate of $8 million to overhaul the foaming systems in all three hangars would be looked into and verified, but he is not surprised by the figure.

“This underscores something we all already knew: both MRRA and the Town of Brunswick lack the resources to cover this cost,” Ankeles said. “A long-term state and federal commitment will be required.”

Maine’s federal lawmakers sent a letter Monday asking the Navy for help cleaning up last month’s spill of the firefighting foam, which the Navy left behind at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent, joined Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Jared Golden, D-2nd District, to ask Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro for a briefing on the Navy’s involvement in the cleanup effort.

“We have been informed that the Navy had planned to remove the fire suppression system at Hangar 4,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are further concerned that thousands of gallons of AFFF remain on site as part of the fire suppression systems in additional hangars at Brunswick Landing.”

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority board next meets at 3 p.m. Friday in the Brunswick Landing Community Room at 8 Venture Ave. Those interested in attending can also do so on Zoom.

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