Acadia-related spending drops for second year as fewer people visit

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 29, 2024

Nearly 4 million people who visited Acadia National Park in 2023 spent $475 million in and around Bar Harbor – a figure that’s down slightly from 2022 but up significantly from pre-pandemic numbers, according to a new report from the National Park Service. Spending by 3.88 million park visitors last year also supported 6,000 jobs and had a cumulative benefit of $685 million to the wider Down East economy, the park service reported. Superintendent Kevin Schneider said in a statement. “We’re proud that Acadia National Park not only offers visitors an extraordinary experience but significantly supports local businesses.”

Scientists express concern about scale of foam spill, the latest in a long, dirty history at former base

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 29, 2024

The concentration and diversity of toxic forever chemicals released in last week’s firefighting foam spill at the Brunswick Executive Airport is even higher – and according to some scientists, even worse – than what was first announced by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Last week, a malfunctioning fire suppression system discharged 51,450 gallons of firefighting foam 4 to 5 feet deep in Hangar 4, emptying into the sewer and stormwater drains. The Aug. 19 spill is believed to be among the nation’s worst in 30 years. State and local officials have reassured the public that the public drinking water supply is safe. Gail Carlson, head of Colby College’s Buck Lab for Climate and Environment, said, “I’d be scared if I lived there…I’ve been working in this field for a long time and I’ve never seen numbers like these.”

Column: Not a bad time to go to work

CENTRAL MAINE • August 29, 2024

Almost without our noticing it, Maine has become a better place to work. There’s more than enough room for new industry in the vast northern spaces. Plenty of forest land is under conservation easements, and along much of the coast the primacy of tourism will keep any unwelcome or unwise changes at bay. Beyond the big projects, there’s intense interest in local economies. There are well over a hundred farmers’ markets with more being added yearly, and “local food” has also spurred growth in restaurants, breweries and year-round stores. All this suggests that Maine, which has avoided the problems that can arise from unchecked growth, may be on a sustainable course for the generations yet to come. If you’re a young Mainer, you can probably find an interesting job here. If you’re a visitor, there may finally be enough here to tempt you to settle down and raise a family. ~ Douglas Rooks

Western Maine Audubon presents “Legislative Summary,” a talk by Maine Audubon’s Nick Lund

DAILY BULLDOG • August 28, 2024

Western Maine Audubon is sponsoring a live talk by Maine Audubon’s Advocacy and Outreach Manager, Nick Lund, on the organization’s legislative victories in the 131st Maine Legislature. September 11, 7 pm, in Thomas Auditorium of UMF’s Preble Hall, Farmington. Free and open to the public.

Wardens pull illegal gillnet from Oxford County river; $1,000 reward offered for info

SUN JOURNAL • August 28, 2024

The Maine Warden Service is seeking the public’s help to learn who put an illegal gillnet in the Magalloway River, a “premier trout” stream, in the northern Oxford County territory. Maine Operation Game Thief is offering $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to contact Operation Game Thief at 1-800-ALERT-US. They can also submit a tip online through the Maine Operation Game Thief app “Tip 411” or through the website at www.maineogt.org.

Column: The woods and The Singularity

MORNING SENTINEL • August 28, 2024

Statistical analyses of progress have shown that the rate of increase of multi-complicated tasks performed by technology increases exponentially. In one school of thought, computers are progressing so rapidly that they are going to dramatically alter human life and possibly give rise to a sort of neo-humanity. It is thought that 2045 is turning-point moment in human-computer interface is called The Singularity. The Singularity, by neoloppropriation, is “the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence,” which will be an event so radically transformative that it is a social, cultural and scientific event horizon. The super-AI will not hear any silence, will not understand words that aren’t words, and will not be able to analyze nothing. The nothing whose boundary is nearer in the woods than it is in pictures of woods on a screen. ~ Dana Wilde

Opinion: Maine PERS still wrongly financing climate chaos

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 28, 2024

The Maine Public Employee Retirement System is using your tax dollars to make climate change worse. Our taxes pay the salaries of state workers, and part of those salaries goes into their pension fund, Maine PERS. In 2021, our state Legislature passed a law telling Maine PERS to stop investing in the expansion of fossil fuels infrastructure. Maine PERS decided to ignore that law. This is puzzling because there are strategies that safeguard both pension fund profitability and our families’ safety from climate disruption. Research shows that the Maine PERS pension fund would be larger today if they had pursued these divestment strategies 20 years ago. ~ Richard Thomas, Ph.D., Waterville

Healthy Maine Talks Podcast: #1 on PFAS: Brunswick & Topsham Water District

MAINE PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION • August 27, 2024

On Monday, August 19th, more than a thousand gallons of AFFF fire fighting foam containing high concentrations of PFAS—a class of "forever chemicals" associated with significant health concerns—was accidentally discharged at the Brunswick Executive Airport due to a malfunctioning fire suppression system. Craig W. Douglas, PE, General Manager of the Brunswick & Topsham Water District, joins Healthy Maine Talks for this special episode to share information about why the district believes there is currently no impact to the public water supply from the spill, and what they're doing to monitor the situation.

‘Deafening silence of information’: Brunswick Landing businesses feel impact of foam spill

TIMES RECORD • August 26, 2024

After an Aug. 19 chemical spill at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, residents and customers in the redeveloped neighborhood, which is home to over 100 businesses and organizations, quickly turned to social media, calling local representatives and reaching out to the businesses they frequent to fill the information void. While some Brunswick Landing businesses experienced minimal impact from last week’s frenzy surrounding the spill others became unwilling communications officers in an environmental emergency. For nearly three days, it fell on Brunswick Landing businesses to disseminate vital information. “There was a deafening silence of information.” The public can now access online much-needed safety information at brunswicklanding.us/afff-hangar-4-faq/.

Maine hospitals launch green initiatives to offset high energy use

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 26, 2024

Maine’s hospitals are launching key environmental sustainability initiatives, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the battle against climate change. Hospitals don’t display obvious signs of being polluters, but they are among the top energy users. Northern Light Health this year has eliminated the use of desflurane, an anesthetic gas that emits a tremendous amount of carbon dioxide. Northern Light’s initiatives to reduce emissions include using heat pumps to supplement or replace existing fossil fuel heating and cooling systems, replacing light bulbs with energy-efficient LED bulbs, composting food waste, converting gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles, and purchasing sustainable supplies. MaineHealth’s initiatives include replacing lighting with LED bulbs, insulating old pipes, using renewable energy sources for heating and cooling, electric vehicles, reducing food waste, and eliminating desflurane gas.

First tests reveal high PFAS levels in spilled foam, ponds at Brunswick Landing

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 26, 2024

Initial state tests reveal extremely high concentrations of an especially long-lasting and toxic forever chemical at Brunswick Landing, where a malfunction in an airport hangar’s fire suppression system created one of the country’s biggest firefighting foam spills in 30 years. The tests found 3.2 billion parts per trillion of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, or PFOS, in the chemical tank that fed 1,450 gallons of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) concentrate into a malfunctioning fire suppression system at Hangar 4 at Brunswick Executive Airport on Aug. 19. Maine has established several screening guidelines for remedial action when it comes to PFOS – 1,000 parts per trillion for groundwater leachate. The new federal drinking water standard for PFOS is stricter: no more than 4 parts per trillion. Scientists say even trace amounts of these manmade compounds can be harmful to people.

Despite Midcoast wildlife run-ins, rabies cases are down this year

TIMES RECORD • August 26, 2024

Despite Midcoast residents’ recent run-ins with rabid animals, confirmed rabies cases are down dramatically compared to last year. So far, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 35 rabies cases in Maine, down from 51 cases to this point in 2023.

Brunswick Landing is Maine’s biggest firefighting foam spill in 30 years

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 25, 2024

Nobody knows how much toxic firefighting foam concentrate there is in Maine, where it is, or if it is safely stored. But state environmental officials do know Brunswick Executive Airport isn’t the only place still using this kind of chemical concentrate to fight fires, nor is it the only place where the foam has been dumped on the ground, washed down sewer or storm drains, or spilled into streams and seas. It wasn’t until two years ago that Maine passed a law requiring people to report foam discharges to the state, so state records before that are spotty. But federal records show this week’s Brunswick spill is the biggest accidental discharge in Maine since it began keeping records in the 1990s.

As they rebuild, Down East businesses take lessons from January’s storms

MAINE MONITOR • August 25, 2024

The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association estimated at least 60% of Maine’s working waterfronts were heavily damaged or destroyed in the January storms. Since then, many coastal businesses have had to decide whether to abandon their enterprises or rebuild, hoping to fortify their properties against future major storms – in some cases with a cash infusion from the state.

Unexpected water drawdown reveals ‘wild’ stretch of Presumpscot River hidden for decades

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 25, 2024

A dam malfunction this spring caused the water in Dundee Pond to drain, offering a short-lived glimpse of what Maine's rivers looked like before industrialization. It also likely devastated an ecosystem. Landis Hudson, executive director of the nonprofit Maine Rivers, described it as a “fascinating combination of profound ugliness and unexpected beauty.” No one knows yet the impact on the fish that swim and spawn in the river. Even before the Dundee dam malfunction, conversations have been happening more frequently in Maine about removing dams. The mills that needed them are no longer there, and residents are placing more value on recreational opportunities and on protecting habitats that have been disrupted for decades.

Editorial: Response to Brunswick foam spill a multifaceted failure

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 25, 2024

The accidental discharge last week of more than 1,500 gallons of firefighting foam concentrate from Brunswick Executive Airport – thick with PFAS, the forever chemicals that have already wrought so much loss and damage in our state – was more than 10,000 times the federal limit. As alarming as the incident itself – a public health nightmare that will have negative environmental ramifications for the local area for years to come – was the slipshod nature of the official response, and what that response reveals about insufficient oversight of storage of this type of foam concentrate, and harmful spills of it, across the state. The information made available to the public was conflicting and confusing. That the process of securing answers and establishing accountability has required a spill of this magnitude, with square feet of noxious foam blowing in the air we breathe and slipping into the water we use, is galling.

Is small-scale wind power Maine’s next big thing?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 24, 2024

Maine is taking a first step to establish small-scale wind power as another tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Distributed energy, or on-site, decentralized power generation, accounts for several thousand solar projects in Maine – such as panels on rooftops and in yards. Not so for distributed wind energy projects, which, at 80 to 150 feet in height, are roughly one-third the size of industrial-scale wind projects. A meeting in Freeport on Aug. 21 drew nearly two dozen federal and state energy and agriculture officials, environmentalists, business owners and others to make introductions and swap ideas about how to launch small-scale wind power.

Maine CDC says not to eat fish from 4 freshwater bodies in Brunswick

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 23, 2024

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people not to eat fish from four water bodies located on and near the former Brunswick Naval Air Station because testing by the Navy last October revealed elevated levels of dangerous forever chemicals. Elevated PFAS levels were found in fish tissue from Mere Brook (also known as Mare Brook), Merriconeag Stream, Picnic Pond and Site 8 Stream, which are all east of the base that closed in 2011. The CDC’s advisory follows the accidental release of 1,450 gallons of firefighting foam concentrate at Brunswick Executive Airport early Monday, when a fire suppression system malfunctioned.

A Week at the 2024 Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Festival

NEW ENGLAND FORESTRY FOUNDATION • August 23, 2024

Henry David Thoreau is well known for his musings while living at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts , but it was his travels to the North Maine Woods that truly shaped his perspective on the natural world. The influence of Maine’s landscape and Penobscot Guides on Thoreau are still honored to this day by the community surrounding a festival in Greenville, Maine—the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Festival.

Maine DEP downplays Brunswick chemical spill risk to private drinking wells

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 21, 2024

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is downplaying the risk to the public water supply and nearby drinking water wells from an accidental discharge of 1,450 gallons of toxic firefighting foam at the Brunswick Executive Airport on Monday. But a state toxicologist at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Maine does not yet understand the public health risk that might be posed from inhalation of foam. After the spill, the foam could be seen blowing in the wind around Hangar 4, drains and manholes, and nearby retention ponds.