Cleanup of stream demanded Bangor neighbors blame pollution for ailments

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BANGOR – Residents of a city housing development near Bangor’s heavily polluted Birch Stream Wednesday demanded that city and state officials pay attention to their plight and take steps to correct the problem.

“Shame on you for what you haven’t done,” said Ann Birmingham, a resident of Griffin Park.

Runoff from Bangor International Airport, the Maine Air National Guard base and the Airport Mall shopping district ends up in Birch Stream, a tiny tributary of Kenduskeag Stream which runs along the edge of Griffin Park.

Residents of the city-run apartments complain of migraine headaches, bloody noses and sinus problems. They blame contaminated air rising from the dirty stream for their ailments.

The city blames the state, the state blames the city, and the kids keep getting sicker, said Griffin Park moms Birmingham and Gina Pratt.

Wednesday morning, the women held a joint press conference with the environmental group Maine Rivers to demand that the stream be cleaned up and their health concerns addressed.

“The stream has been used as a dump for decades. The time is really past due for action,” said Maine Rivers Executive Director Naomi Schalit in an interview after the press conference.

“We’ve got to be in their faces until they do what’s right,” she said.

In May, the Department of Environmental Protection responded to complaints from Griffin Park residents and determined that Birch Stream was heavily polluted with propylene glycol, a major ingredient of the de-icing chemical used on planes.

The sweet, “yeasty” smelling chemical traveled in runoff to Birch Stream after planes were de-iced on the tarmac – a major violation of state environmental rules that will be corrected, the department said.

However, the state has denied that the chemical would result in the sort of symptoms that Birmingham and Pratt describe.

To residents, it’s clear that living in the Griffin Park apartments is what’s causing the illness. Time and again, families suffering from myriad medical problems report full recoveries once they move away from Birch Stream, the women said.

“I’m angry that they did this to my children,” said Birmingham, whose 15-year-old son, Tyson, suffers from headaches.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going on here,” Schalit said. “To have the city burying its head in the sand just isn’t right.”

The city is moving forward with plans to consolidate de-icing activities and to divert the excess chemical into the municipal sewer system, Assistant City Engineer John Murphy said Wednesday afternoon.

A plan has been designed, and once airport consultants have determined that it meets Federal Aviation Administration regulations, it will go out to bid – likely within a few weeks, he said.

Construction should be completed by the time de-icing is needed this winter.

Although the project is a good first step, it’s nowhere near enough, said Maine Rivers’ Schalit and the Griffin Park residents. Wednesday, they demanded that Bangor’s mayor, Nichi Farnham, address their concerns, and that Gov. John Baldacci order the DEP to clean up Birch Stream.

Birch Stream’ s problems go far beyond propylene glycol, said John Peckenham, assistant director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at the University of Maine, Orono.

Peckenham has tested water from the stream and found evidence of toxic chemicals including acetone, heavy metals, oil, gasoline, and diesel and jet fuel.

“The stream is dead and it’s loaded with petroleum,” he said after Wednesday’s press conference. “This is a grievous problem, and we can’t ignore it.”

To redeem themselves, city and state officials must address the following demands within the next two weeks, residents said.

. A scientific investigation of indoor and outdoor air quality.

. A health survey and assessment.

. An environmental assessment of Birch Stream.

. Remediation of the stream and associated drainage structures.

. Upgrading or replacement of drainage structures at the airport and the Airport Mall area to reduce the amount and toxicity of runoff.

. Regular public informational meetings.

. A list of city and state officials for residents to contact.