Mayor answers upset residents through letter

BANGOR – Mayor Nichi Farnham Wednesday responded to residents of a city apartment complex who last week demanded at a highly publicized news conference that city and state officials remedy pollution in their neighborhood.

Residents of the Griffin Park apartment complex contend that the air and water around their homes is making them sick because nearby Birch Stream is polluted with runoff from Bangor International Airport, the Maine Air National Guard Base and the Airport Mall shopping center.

Water samples tested this spring showed that Birch Stream contained high concentrations of a number of chemicals, including jet fuel, acetone, heavy metals, oil, gasoline and propylene glycol – a component of the chemical used to de-ice airplanes.

Ann Birmingham, when reached at her Griffin Park apartment Wednesday night, said that she was shocked and insulted by the mayor’s letter and its emphasis on city employees taking the lead on researching the pollution problem.

“I don’t trust them, and that’s why it needs to be independent,” she said. “They didn’t tell us the whole truth when we moved in here. Why should we trust them to tell us the whole truth now?”

In her letter, Farnham informed Griffin Park of the following:

Construction on a system to divert de-icer into the city’s sewage system will begin in September. The $240,000 project will be completed prior to this winter’s de-icing season, she said.

The city will work with the state Department of Environmental Protection in continued water and sediment testing along Birch Stream.

A project to gather data about resident health concerns is in the planning stages, and the city’s Department of Health and Welfare is working with the state Department of Health to design a health survey for Griffin Park Residents.

The city’s office of code enforcement is working with the state Housing Authority to develop a building assessment program which will investigate mold and other internal pollution concerns.