PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 26, 2025
In his Nov. 30 op-ed “Setting the record straight on Brunswick foam spill,” Steve Levesque, the former executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), expresses that he is “saddened and disappointed” by the response of local officials to the August 2024 AFFF firefighting foam spill at Brunswick Landing. There are many others who are sad and disappointed about this environmental disaster and the response to it, including:
● Those who advised MRRA to insist that the Navy remove the AFFF fire suppression systems. Had MRRA done this, perhaps the spill would not have happened.
● Safety inspectors who advised MRRA in 2023 to address issues with the Hangar 4 fire suppression system before it failed.
● The responders to the 2024 spill who worked, at least initially, without masks/ventilators and other protection.
● The residents of Brunswick Landing and the employees and patrons of Landing businesses and educational institutions who are anxious about their exposure to toxins.
● The neighbors of Brunswick Landing who have incurred hundreds of dollars in expenses testing their wells, installing filtration systems, or connecting their homes to the municipal water system.
● Neighbors of the potential impact areas who wonder if the aquifers from which they draw water are also affected.
● Brunswick Landing residents near the extensive soil piles from “post-spill” development who wonder if the dust that blows off those piles and the rain water that washes through them might contain toxins.
● Pet owners who live on or visit the Landing and wonder if their pets’ health might be affected.
● The shellfish harvesters who have experienced extended closures of the clam flats in Harpswell Cove, and other marine fishery interests who wonder about the safety of their harvests.
● People who visit nearby forests, fields, marshes, marine estuaries, the Androscoggin River and Merrymeeting Bay and wonder if it is safe to walk, ski, bike, boat, swim, fish and hunt in these habitats.
~ Ralph Keyes lives near Brunswick Landing