BRUNSWICK

Contaminated groundwater at Brunswick Landing may have seeped into wastewater pipes bound for the Brunswick Sewer District, which discharges treated water into the Androscoggin River.

It’s unknown how much, if any perfluorinated compounds — or PFCs — have leeched into the sewer lines at the former base.

Federal and state environmental officials do not yet have a process for regulating PFCs, manufactured compounds used in fire suppressant foam — as well as everyday objects — and an emerging contaminate found at many airports and military installations.

It’s an issue the Brunswick Sewer District is paying attention to. The five-member board of trustees last week voted unanimously to take over ownership of seven miles of gravity wastewater sewer lines at Brunswick Landing as of July 1, seven years after the base closed.

Leonard Blanchette, general manager of the Brunswick Sewer District, said Monday that while the Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t determined testing protocols for PFCs in wastewater, the agency is working on requirements and it may be something the sewer district has to treat in the future.

The sewer district’s treatment plant is designed to remove solids, not chemicals, Blanchette said.

The plant discharged an average of 1.8 million gallons of treated water a day into the Androscoggin River in June.

Sewer district trustee Jackie Sartoris said she had been concerned about the potential cost to the district and the safety of district workers.

However, according to Blanchette, the Navy will have a treatment system online by the end of this year to treat PFCs in the groundwater, essentially filtering the water before it seeps into the sewer system.

Sartoris said the groundwater contaminates continue to be monitored at Brunswick Landing.

“All we can do is monitor and make sure people are protected in real-time,” she said. “I do think we are doing that.

“Nothing changes because we adopt the wastewater system,” she added.

Groundwater concerns

Concerns regarding the state of groundwater at the former base are nothing new. Contamination from solvents, fuels, deicing chemicals and other sources used over the 70-year lifespan of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station have impacted the groundwater to the point where monitoring wells are setup throughout the facility.

Both perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate have been found in groundwater, and research is ongoing to learn more about the potential risks of these chemicals.

PFCs are found in many everyday objects, such as non-stick cookware, some food packaging and stain-resistant sofas and carpeting, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Last year, the Associated Press reported that the Air Force investigated nearly 200 bases for foam contamination, and treated groundwater or brought in drinking water to 20 bases including the former Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire. Those tested who lived and worked at Pease — including 366 children — were found to have significantly higher levels of three kinds of PFCs.

A 2012 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a connection between PFC exposure in children and lower immune response to vaccines. And several studies from the C8 Science Panel found links between exposure to PFOA — a type of PFC — and several types of cancers, the Associated Press reported.

The former Brunswick base is home to day care, special needs and pre-K learning centers. However, the Portland Press Herald reported in September that PFC contamination at Brunswick Landing is believed to be less of a cause for concern.

Testing of more than 30 private wells near the base did uncover PFCs in some samples, but well below the EPA’s “health advisory” threshold, the Press Herald reported.

Brunswick Landing is served by town water lines.

Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Director Steve Levesque told The Times Record that the Navy, EPA and Maine DEP have been working with the redevelopment authority to address any contaminated groundwater encountered on the property.