The Brunswick Fire Department revealed Monday that the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority has submitted a plan of action to address a code violation at Brunswick Executive Airport Hangers 5 and 6 that the Fire Department doled out on Sept. 19.

MRRA Executive Director Kristine Logan said the quasi-state entity, which manages property at the former Naval Air Station known as Brunswick Landing, contracted Eastern Fire, a fire protection service company, to correct any deficiencies and perform annual testing of the fire suppression systems by Oct. 30. It also contracted Poole Fire Protection to conduct risk assessment of Hangars 4, 5 and 6, and find alternative options for suppression systems that do not use firefighting foams containing PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.”

“The MRRA Board and staff have been working diligently to not only address the immediate items at hand but have been working to determine potential options to reach everyone’s ultimate goal: the removal of all AFFF foam from our facilities,” Logan wrote in an email to The Times Record on Monday.

MRRA expects to have quotes for alternative systems done in the next few weeks.

The corrective action plan was submitted just under a week before the Sept. 30 deadline set in the code violation notice the Fire Department issued earlier in September. The violation, which was issued for MRRA-owned Hangars 5 and 6 at the base, came in the wake of a series of revelations that Hangars 4, 5 and 6 were found “deficient” in their 2023 inspection and had remained so since.

“They are working on making the repairs needed for the system,” Deputy Fire Chief Josh Shean said. ” … The next benchmark is the completion of the inspection.”

Deputy Fire Chief Josh Shean previously said that MRRA was pursuing corrective action at Hangar 4, where 1,450 gallons of firefighting foam concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water spilled on Aug. 19. The foam – known as AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) – contains a “forever chemical” known as PFOS, which is harmful to human health.

Logan said Shean was included in the conversations of the corrective action plan to reach a collective agreement on steps to be taken. Shean said a corrective plan of action was discussed in person and confirmed via email Sept. 24.

The Oct. 30 deadline, which is self-imposed by MRRA, is not set in stone, Shean said. It is possible work might be done ahead of that date or that MRRA will need more time.

The Fire Department additionally granted MRRA’s request to discontinue use of the automatic monitors and flame detectors in Hangar 5, according to a Sept. 27 letter from the department to Logan. Shean said these adjustments to the system will also help make it safer – and less likely for a high-impact firefighting foam spill as seen in August – while complying with fire code.

The letter stated that the hangar is now used for smaller aircraft, storage for the fixed-base operator (a commercial operation granted the right to operate and provide services at the airport) and non-aviation manufacturing space, meaning the hangar does not meet the requirements for a such a fire system.

In order to remove the supplemental system, the Fire Department said that MRRA will have to ensure that the foaming system present in Hangar 5 will work as a component of the existing sprinkler system. Shean said utilizing the sprinklers means less foam will be dispersed in the event of a release.

MRRA will also need to notify its tenants and the State Fire Marshal’s Office, remove appliances no longer in service and put up signs stating that the supplemental system is gone, according to the letter. The foam system must remain in place until an alternative system is approved, the Fire Department wrote.

Sept. 30 also marks the deadline in which the Brunswick Town Council had demanded a complete shutdown of the fire suppression system at Hangar 6 in its PFAS resolution passed Sept. 3.

This demand was reiterated – along with several others – at the first MRRA board meeting since the August spill, where the public and local leaders expressed concerns about the organization’s handling of the situation. The board, which went into executive session to deliberate the demands with legal counsel and discuss personal matters, meets again Tuesday night at Town Hall to continue that discussion.

Shean said the corrective action plan will be presented at the next Town Council meeting Oct. 7.