MAINE MORNING STAR • May 28, 2024
Eight years ago, Maine uncovered the edge of a vast agricultural problem when PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) surfaced on a third-generation dairy farm. The toxic fluorinated compounds in the farm’s water, soil, pasture grasses and milk traced back to wastewater sludge spread on fields more than a decade earlier. In 2022, Maine became the first state to ban land application of sludge and the sale of compost containing sludge. No such protections exist for the larger U.S. food supply. To force faster adoption of federal regulations governing PFAS in sludge, MOFGA announced last week its intent to join a lawsuit against the EPA.