The executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, Kristine Logan, is stepping down in the wake of a toxic firefighting foam spill at the Brunswick Executive Airport.
The MRRA board of trustees made the announcement Thursday evening. The board noted that Logan had been "an outstanding leader." The trustees said they "would much rather see Kristine continue her very effective work."
"We also want to express our full confidence in Kristine's responsible handling of the recent accidental release of fire-retardant foam at Brunswick Airport," the board wrote in a statement. "Her leadership in managing the emergency response and guiding the organization through a complex situation reflects her unwavering commitment to the safety of our community."
Logan, however, faced calls for her resignation from Brunswick residents and state lawmakers in the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 19 spill.
"I don't think this is a moment to celebrate," Rep. Dan Ankeles, D- Brunswick, said Friday morning in an interview. "While her resignation does provide some measure of accountability, it still leaves the problem of making sure we shut down the foam on Hangar 6. And it still leaves a very large responsibility to pass what we need to pass to make sure that all of the foam is removed from Brunswick Landing and ideally statewide."
Ankeles said he's grateful for Logan's service and repeated calls for airport authority to be reformed to ensure that Brunswick residents on the Landing had a voice.
"A town within a town is not sustainable, and her resignation does not change that," he added.
State Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D- Cumberland, had also called for Logan's resignation. In a brief interview Friday, Daughtry acknowledged that Logan brought a lot of new development to the Brunswick Landing.
"But I also recognize and appreciate her desire to move on to the next step," she said. "And I just want to be clear that this isn't the end, and there is a need for commitment from you know, myself and the Legislature included, as well as the board of MRRA, our federal delegation and especially folks like the Navy."
Logan's resignation comes as MRRA pursues an expensive and complex task of removing PFAS chemicals from the former naval airbase. MRRA is exploring alternative fire protection systems and must eventually find a way to remove the existing measures and pay for new ones. Logan had estimated that the cost of replacing foam systems at Hangars 4, 5, and 6 would cost at least $8 million.
The next director of the authority, Ankeles said, should have expertise in preventing and handling environmental incidents.
"Prior to the spill, the leadership was structure was based around the skillset of economic development. We all realize now as a state, that that skillset must broaden," he said. "It can't just include turning over property and attracting new businesses. We also have highly environmentally sensitive situations here, and we need somebody who has experience addressing those."
