News & Press
Maine Legislature Passes Bill to Revitalize Rural Communities, Fight Climate Change with Production Tax Credit for Renewable Chemicals and Products
AUGUSTA, Maine, June 19, 2019—The Maine Senate today unanimously passed LD 1698, a production tax credit for renewable chemicals and products that will bring high-paying green jobs to rural Maine, sending the bill to Governor Janet Mills’ desk. The Senate vote follows a unanimous vote in the House. The legislation will incentivize new, climate-friendly biobased… Read more »
Maine Legislature Passes First-in-the-Nation Bill to Ban Toxic Chemicals from Food Packaging
The Safe Food Packaging Act will phase out PFAS and phthalates from food packaging and allow the state to restrict additional harmful food packaging chemicals AUGUSTA, Maine, June 4, 2019—Enacted unanimously on Tuesday by both the Maine House and Senate, a bill on the way today to Governor Janet Mills’ desk would establish a first-in-the-nation… Read more »
Mainers Rally for Law to Prevent Toxic Chemical Exposure and Contamination
LD 1433, The Safe Food Packaging Act, would phase out use of toxic PFAS and phthalates in food packaging AUGUSTA, Maine, April 17, 2019—Maine moms and dads, educators and students, health professionals, and members of the state’s farming, restaurant, and faith communities rallied at the State House today to support the only bill now before the… Read more »
Maine Dairy Farm Poisoned by Toxic Chemicals Spurs Health Advocates’ Ask for Federal Action
U.S. Senate Committee to Hold Hearing Tomorrow on ‘Forever Chemicals’ PORTLAND, Maine, March 27, 2019—In advance of a federal hearing tomorrow, health advocates are urging federal investigation to determine if toxic PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge spread as fertilizer are contaminating farmland, agriculture products, and drinking water nationwide. A hearing by the U.S. Senate Committee… Read more »
Portland Nonprofit Calls for Action on PFAS-Contaminated Sludge Spread on Farmland
The Portland-based Environmental Health Strategy Center is asking the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to examine the federal response to risks associated with toxic PFAS chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in sewage sludge that for decades has been spread as fertilizer on farmland. Read the rest at MaineBiz.
State Says Sludge Must Be Tested for “Forever Chemicals” Before it’s Used as Fertilizer
State environmental regulators announced Friday that all sludge will have to be tested for the presence of an industrial chemical before being used as fertilizer or applied to land. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection announced the new testing requirement in response to growing concerns about contamination from PFAS, a group of chemicals widely used… Read more »
Maine Dairy Farm Plagued by Chemical Contaminants May Be “Tip of the Toxic Iceberg”
ARUNDEL, Maine — More than two years after learning drinking water and milk tanks on his 100-year-old Stoneridge Farm were contaminated with a class of chemicals linked to cancer and other health concerns, farmer Fred Stone still can’t sell his milk and is losing hundreds of dollars a day, every day. Stone said he never… Read more »
Dairy Farm Pollution Spurs New Testing for Toxic PFAS before Sludge Spreading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: In response to an announcement made today by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that it will require the testing of all sludge material licensed for land application in the state for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the “forever chemicals” that ruined a dairy farm and its milk and drinking water in… Read more »
PFAS Contamination Hurts Farmers
A century-old dairy farm is in danger of shutting down after milk tests showed high levels of the chemical PFAS. Watch the full report from News Center Maine:
The Curious Case of Tainted Milk from a Maine Dairy Farm
ARUNDEL, Maine (Reuters) – For Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone, the discovery in 2016 that his cows were producing tainted milk has since brought financial ruin and threatened to shut down a century-old family business. Now state regulators and health experts are investigating whether the contamination could reflect a much broader problem for farms that… Read more »