ME district warns residents not to drink water after firefighting foam causes potential PFAS contamination

• Firefighters battled a senior apartment building fire on May 22, 2023, where one person was killed. While fighting the fire, the public water system was contaminated with firefighting foam.
• Firefighting foam sometimes contains PFAS chemicals so the Kennebec Water District issued a do-not-drink order that went into effect on the same day as the fire.
• 9,000 Kennebec Water District Customers from Waterville, Winslow, Benton, Fairfield, and Vassalboro will have to wait as testing is conducted to decide whether the water is safe to drink.

Firefighting foam used in battling a fatal fire in an apartment building entered the public water system, prompting the water district to order thousands of residents not to drink the water.

The do-not-drink order went into effect Monday for about 9,000 Kennebec Water District customers in Waterville, Winslow, Benton, Fairfield and Vassalboro. Testing was being conducted Tuesday to determine whether the water is safe to drink.

The foam used by Waterville firefighters is presumed to contain PFAS chemicals, a group of compounds that are widespread, dangerous and expensive to remove from drinking water, but the foam is advertised as being free of fluorine, another compound sometimes used in firefighting foam, said Fire Capt. Edward Moult.

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“While the extent of the contamination is unclear, out of an abundance of caution, Kennebec Water District is issuing a system-wide Do Not Drink Order,” the water district announced Monday.

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The foam entered the public water distribution system as firefighters battled a blaze in an apartment building for seniors. One person was killed and several others were injured Monday.

Officials didn’t say how the foam entered the public water supply. Newer buildings have a special valve to prevent firefighters’ water or foam from flowing back into the public water system, Moult said. The status of such a system on the seven-story apartment building, constructed in 1972, was unclear.

Water samples that were taken Tuesday morning were being delivered to a lab in southern Maine for analysis. Officials hoped to be able to provide an update by day’s end.