FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY • October 22, 2025
Friends of Casco Bay and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences teamed up in 2023 for a three-year study of PFAS in Casco Bay. These “forever chemicals” are found in everything from camping gear to food wrappers, and we suspected they might show up in marine waters, too. We didn’t know our first year of sampling would lay the foundation for understanding a looming crisis. By 2024, we planned to monitor 70 water sites and 45 sediment sites. That changed after a massive spill of firefighting foam in Brunswick in August 2024 sent PFAS into Harpswell Cove. Suddenly, our study had a new urgency. We added six more sites, increased testing, and coordinated with Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Here is a peek behind the scenes through the eyes of two key researchers.