The deal gives the airport board 2 years to clean or replace fire suppression systems, but does not hold the board responsible for off-campus pollution or levy a fine for the largest firefighting foam spill in Maine history.
forever chemicals
Maine’s biggest composting plant to close
State regulators say the Hawk Ridge facility in Unity is a source of PFAS contamination in nearby streams, rivers and fish. The owner says the state’s regulatory environment has made its operation unsustainable.
Manufacturers seek product exemptions from Maine PFAS ban
Makers of products like nonstick cookware cite health, safety and functioning of society as reasons they should be able to continue selling products made with forever chemicals.
Maine issues new fish consumption limits for PFAS-tainted waters
Six bodies of water have new fish consumption advisories due to elevated levels of forever chemicals.
EPA restores $1.6M UMaine PFAS grant
The federal agency’s reversal comes 1 month after it declared that the University of Maine’s research into ways to reduce the effects of forever chemicals on farms was inconsistent with the EPA’s funding priorities.
After hailing them as important, EPA cancels PFAS research grants
Termination notices to Maine grant recipients said the work was ‘no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities.’ At least 2 of the 3 Maine recipients plan to appeal the termination.
Lawmakers consider $10M bailout for Fairfield water crisis
A bill would expand the public water system to Fairfield residents whose private wells have been contaminated by toxic forever chemicals from the state’s former agricultural sludge-spreading program.
Maine college students investigate health effects of forever chemicals
But the statewide biotech training program teaching them how to tackle local scientific challenges like this in the laboratory faces an uncertain future because of federal budget cuts.
Bills to find and destroy Maine’s toxic firefighting foam win over legislative committee
The Environment and Natural Resources Committee unanimously endorsed bills to catalog, collect and dispose of Maine’s stockpike of toxic firefighting foam.
Maine makes first purchase of farm contaminated by forever chemicals
The state tapped its PFAS relief fund to spend $333,000 to buy a Palermo hay field where sewage sludge was once spread as fertilizer that tested 3 times above the state’s recommended level for safe dairy forage.