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AUGUSTA — A legislative effort to promote well-water testing in Maine was nixed this week when legislators failed to override a veto from Gov. Paul LePage.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, was a response to recent scientific findings on arsenic, a carcinogen occurring naturally in the state’s bedrock, which is a particular problem in central and Down East Maine. Statewide, 150,000 people – one in 10 residents – could be drinking from wells with high arsenic concentrations, according to a Dartmouth University study.

“A legislative effort to promote well-water testing in Maine was nixed this week when legislators failed to override a veto from Gov. Paul LePage.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, was a response to recent scientific findings on arsenic, a carcinogen occurring naturally in the state’s bedrock, which is a particular problem in central and Down East Maine. Statewide, 150,000 people – one in 10 residents – could be drinking from wells with high arsenic concentrations, according to a Dartmouth University study….”

Read the full article here. This piece was originally published in the Portland Press Herald and was written by Michael Shepherd of the Kennebec Journal. Photo credit to the Portland Press Herald.