AUGUSTA - Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, rallied support from local leaders Tuesday at a public hearing on his legislation to develop a long-range plan for replacing aging infrastructure on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, commonly known as Brunswick Landing.
As amended, LD 941 would establish a group of nine individuals including environmental experts, town officials and a bipartisan group of state legislators to evaluate the need to upgrade critical environmental and conventional infrastructure. The group would also assess the health and safety risks to residents, businesses, flora and fauna in the region, review ongoing federal and state remediation work related to PFAS contamination and develop a plan and submit a recommendation for the Legislature to act on.
"This cannot be written off as a local problem," said Ankeles in testimony before the Legislature's Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee. "If the infrastructure and storm water management systems are allowed to fail, or if we as a state don't speak to the federal government with one voice when it comes to PFAS remediation, our regions loss will be Maine's loss."
A coalition of local and state officials including Brunswick's town manager, Brunswick's environmental planner, and the executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) all offered testimony in support of the measure. Additionally, the entire Brunswick and Sagadahoc County legislative delegations signed on as co-sponsors.
"LD 941 presents an unusual opportunity to bring to bear the collective expertise of the town of Brunswick, MRRA and Maine government in support of a holistic solution to the water problems that are part of the Navy's legacy in Brunswick, said Ashley Charleson, the environmental planner for the Town of Brunswick. "Even as a number of the problems are longstanding, there's not yet been a fully coordinated effort to negotiate and work with the Navy on an overall plan for the waters and toxins of the Landing."
"Since 2013, the Town of Brunswick has allocated to MRRA nearly 50% of the property tax revenues generated at Brunswick Landing," said Brunswick Town Manager John Eldridge. "However, these taxes are nowhere near adequate to meet the staggering cost of the infrastructure improvements required, by some estimates, more than $20 million."
In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to close Brunswick Naval Air Station. Subsequently, state and local officials established the Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority which was succeeded by the MRRA. The base did not officially close until 2011, when the transfer of Navy property began.
Brunswick Landing has since been identified as a PFAS hotspot due to the use of firefighting foam and other PFAS-laden materials when the base was active. According to reporting in 2022, a U.S. Navy study found that PFAS concentrated near the Brunswick Landing runway is likely a primary source of PFAS contamination in local groundwater and may be contaminating the aquifer that supplies two wellfields in the Brunswick and Topsham Water District. The amount of PFAS impacting the roughly 18,000 residents served by those water districts is well above recommended safe levels according to Maine's drinking water standard.
Under both Governor Mills and Governor LePage, the former airbase had the second most successful post-closure economic recovery in the nation. The MRRA found that, since 2011, 2,500 new jobs have been created and $200 million in new taxable property has been established at Brunswick Landing. For the 2020 fiscal year, economic activity at Brunswick Landing generated $4 million in tax revenue for the region.
"Without the ability to upgrade our infrastructure, we will not be able to support new and existing economic activity," said Kristine Logan, executive director of MRRA. "With the proper investments, the redevelopment of the former Naval Air Station will continue to foster a sustainable, thriving economy in Midcoast Maine, providing new business opportunities, housing and jobs for the region. "
"We need to get started on this multi-year process right away," said Ankeles. "With state and local government working and MRRA together, we have a far better chance of solving this problem before it gets exponentially worse. We are energized, and we are ready to work."
The IDEA committee will hold a work session on LD 941 later in April.
Ankeles, a member of the Transportation Committee, is serving his first term in the Maine House and represents District 100, a central slice of Brunswick that includes downtown, the former naval airbase and Bowdoin College.
Contact:
Brian Lee [Ankeles], 305-965-2744
Left to right: Rep. Dan Ankeles, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Kristine Logan, environmental planner for the Town of Brunswick Ashley Charleson and Brunswick Town Manager John Eldride.