Toxic disaster of PFAS contamination a nightmare for ME farmers

By Vivien Leigh | News Center Maine | April 15, 2022

Read the full article by Vivien Leigh (News Center Maine)

A toxic disaster centered on wastewater sludge, tainted with industrial compounds known as PFAS chemicals, is unfolding across Maine.

This sludge was marketed by the state government and was hauled to farms and used as free fertilizer for decades.

Over the years, the chemicals in the sludge leached into the groundwater, poisoning it and hundreds of drinking water wells.

Lawmakers in Augusta in the past several years have taken aggressive steps to address the contamination, including an outright ban on sludge spreading and the use and sale of sludge in compost and fertilizer.

State officials are scrambling to try to save farmers from financial ruin, as statewide testing is expected to reveal a much larger scale of contamination.

Fred Stone and his wife Laura met showing farm animals at county fairs as high schoolers. "

This content provided by the PFAS Project.