{"id":7246,"date":"2022-05-02T09:48:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7246"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:44:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:44:01","slug":"forever-chemicals-are-contaminating-maine-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/05\/02\/forever-chemicals-are-contaminating-maine-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Forever Chemicals are Contaminating Maine Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Maine farmland calls to mind hoop houses, tall grain crops and cows grazing peacefully out to pasture. But something is happening beneath the surface. Farmers are facing soil and water contamination from Polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAs used in manufacturing. What are these chemicals and where did they come from?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dairy cows grazing on pasture at Springside Farms in New Vineyard, Maine.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0PFAs are a family of synthetic chemicals that do not break down in the environment. Because they are water, stain and grease resistant, they are used in the production of household products–from the Teflon coating on cookware, to textiles, furniture and carpeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The state of Maine endorsed farmers\u2019 spreading tainted sludge from wastewater facilities as fertilizer in the 1980s. Farmers felt it was a civic duty. Today, farmers witness the fallout with heavy emotion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Randall Bates is a dairy farmer at Springside Farms in New Vineyard, Maine. His family has occupied this property for over a century. Two maple trees guard the white clapboard farmhouse. On a crisp, peaceful March morning, he strolled his 400-acre organic farm past the bright red barn. Part of this barn doubles as a museum. Black and white photographs line the walls. His grandmother\u2019s original cream separator stands by the door. \u201cIt is unfortunate that these people have done nothing wrong.\u00a0They were told that spreading sludge was safe. Now they are being told that their property and livelihoods are worthless,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We do not understand how forever chemicals move through the landscape yet. And testing efforts have halted businesses across the state. Property owners experience frustration because they\u2019ve had little indication whether sludge spreading occurred on their property or nearby.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bates said, \u201cTesting should be available to anyone who wants it. The state should bear the cost. The cleanup, I can\u2019t speak to. I don’t know if it can be done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and Maine Farmland Trust support farms dealing with PFAs. Bills LD 1626, LD 1911 and LD 2013 expand research and funding. But what do we know at this moment?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0PFAs have a half-life in milk, meat and eggs. The concentration of PFAs drops in those products over time. But contaminated feed and groundwater still impact healthy livestock and crops. And there are no disposal methods for contaminated materials. Even if a field is no longer used for grazing or crop production, the fallow land poses a risk to wild foragers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Human contamination looks different. Exposure to PFAs links to high cholesterol, a weakened immune system, cancer and thyroid disease. Sarah Alexander, the director of MOFGA, said, \u201cAll of this research is in its early stages. But the fact that these things can be impactful on our health at low levels is concerning. And the fact that they are being used in many parts of our industrial systems.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beneath the surface, contamination alters agriculture. The livelihoods, lifestyles and personal health of Maine farmers are at stake. Legislation and testing pave the way forward.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Maine farmland calls to mind hoop houses, tall grain crops and cows grazing peacefully out to pasture. But something is happening beneath the surface. Farmers are facing soil and water contamination from Polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAs used in manufacturing. What are these chemicals and where did they come from? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0PFAs are a family of synthetic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8124,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246\/revisions\/8124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}