EPA Enforcement Order Addresses Unauthorized Release of PFAS-Containing Foam into Maine Waters

EPA Enforcement Order Addresses Unauthorized Release of PFAS-Containing Foam into Maine Waters 

September 11, 2025

BOSTON (Sept. 11, 2025) - Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an agreement with the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) addressing an August 2024 accidental release of 1,450 gallons of firefighting foam that contained per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a fire suppression system hangar at the Brunswick Executive Airport in Brunswick, Maine. The aqueous film-forming (AFFF) foam reached several local waterbodies, including the Androscoggin River, Harpswell Cove, Merriconeag Stream, and Mare Brook.

As of the date of EPA's order, MRRA has proactively removed all PFAS-containing AFFF from the facility's fire suppression system. Under the agreement being announced today, MRRA will take a number of actions to further eliminate the possibility of a similar incident in the future, including ensuring the proper cleanup of AFFF from its fire suppression system while also assuring that the facility meets applicable fire codes. A detailed summary of the work MRRA will perform can be found in the order, which is available from EPA upon request.  

"Protecting human health and the environment is EPA's core mission and we are dedicated to addressing releases of PFAS," said EPA New England Regional Administrator Mark Sanborn. "The agreement with Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority will better protect Maine residents and local water quality so that a release like this never happens again."

Background 

In April, EPA Administrator Zeldin announced a long list of actions to combat PFAS contamination that included in part the designation of an agency lead for PFAS, the development of ELGs for certain PFAS to reduce discharges to waterways including upstream of drinking water systems, and initiatives to engage with Congress and industry.

During President Trump's first term, EPA convened a two-day National Leadership Summit on PFAS in Washington, D.C. that brought together more than 200 federal, state, and local leaders from across the country to discuss steps to address PFAS. Following the Summit, the agency hosted a series of visits during the summer of 2018 in communities directly impacted by PFAS. EPA interacted with more than 1,000 Americans during community engagement events in Exeter, New Hampshire, Horsham, Pennsylvania, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Leavenworth, Kansas, as well as through a roundtable in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and events with tribal representatives in Spokane, Washington.

In 2019, the Trump EPA announced the PFAS Action Plan (pdf) (2.2 MB). This historic Plan responded to extensive public interest and input the agency received and represented the first time EPA built a multi-media, multi-program, national communication and research plan to address an emerging environmental challenge like PFAS. EPA's Action Plan identified both short-term solutions for addressing these chemicals and long-term strategies that will help provide the tools and technologies states, tribes, and local communities need to provide clean and safe drinking water to their residents and to address PFAS at the source-even before it gets into the water.