Maine DEP downplays Brunswick chemical spill risk to private drinking wells [Video]

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.

“We’ve all seen the videos of the foam in the air,” toxicologist Andy Smith said. “We can understand why that is concerning to people. … As that happens, you can potentially form an aerosol, small droplets, and it is the small droplets that people can inhale.”

Smith …