BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 18, 2022
When the U.S. government turned over more than 600 acres of the former Loring Air Force Base to the Aroostook Band of Micmacs in 2009, the land was so polluted it was categorized as a federal superfund site. Ongoing research by the Micmac Nation and the group Upland Grassroots, along with scientists in Connecticut and Virginia, has found that industrial hemp can extract perfluorooctanesulfonic acid — a type of PFAS — from the soil. Dangerous levels of PFAS have been found in soil and groundwater and dairy milk in various locations in Maine. More recently, the chemicals have been found in deer meat and chicken eggs, in central Maine. The State has warned hunters not to eat meat from deer shot in the Fairfield area because of the contamination. Researching ways to clean contaminated soil, such as by planting hemp, is another step in addressing contamination from these forever chemicals.