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Adam Nordell, impacted Maine resident and owner of Songbird Farm joins Defend Our Health as Campaign Manager 

Portland, Maine – This week, Defend Our Health is thrilled to welcome Adam Nordell to the team in the newly-created position of Campaign Manager – Maine Farmland Contamination. He will be responsible for helping to advance environmental health and secure justice for farmers and families impacted by PFAS contamination across Maine. Family farms, like Nordell’s own Songbird Farm, have faced ruin as a result of PFAS contaminated sludge that have impacted them financially and left them with questions about the long-term health impacts. Nordell will work with impacted families, farmers, and organizations to create protective state policies, secure additional relief funds and ensure state resources to assist impacted communities. 

Nordell and his PFAS-impacted farmer peers played a critical role in the passage of first-in-the-nation bill LD 1911, ending the use of industrial and municipal sewage sludge as fertilizer. And LD 2013, which provided $60 million in funding, research, and medical monitoring to farmers who have been impacted by the PFAS crisis. 

“Adam was integral to the passage of two major PFAS bills this session. He could have easily focused solely on the impacts to his farm and his family, instead he spoke out and organized his community to fight to protect others and to provide resources to those impacted by PFAS contamination,” said Defend Our Health’s Director of Advocacy, Sarah Woodbury. “His personal experience, skills, and passion for this issue will make him a vital member of the team and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome him to the Defend Our Health family.”

His personal experience, expertise and commitment to the PFAS crisis will be invaluable to both Defend Our Health and to Maine. He and his family grew organic vegetables and grains for themselves, local co-ops, and community bakers before they discovered PFAS in test samples of their water, soil and produce back in December of last year. The farm’s well water tested 400 times higher than the state’s threshold for PFAS and immediately upon discovery they paused all sales and were forced to evaluate the future of their farm. Additionally, after conducting bloodwork, they discovered extremely high levels of PFAS in their own bodies. 

“The discovery of PFAS contamination this winter was devastating for my family and for my community,” said Nordell. “We’re all trying to find our way forward at this point, and I feel incredibly lucky that I get to continue fighting for a clean, healthy environment at Defend Our Health.”       

With Defend, Nordell will now be positioned to lead the development and execution of public-facing issues campaigns that focus on creating health-protective and justice-oriented policies around PFAS in the state of Maine that can also be applied in other states as the nation moves forward in the collective fight against toxic PFAS. He will also play a lead role in amplifying the voices of other impacted community members, giving them an opportunity to share their stories, and developing strategies to get policy makers to make the changes we all need.