LIMESTONE, Maine — An Aroostook County tribe has found that industrial hemp plants will extract so-called forever chemicals from contaminated soil on land it owns at the former Loring Air Force Base.
There’s one problem: no one can figure out what to do with the hemp.
“There hasn’t been a way to get the PFAS out of the plants without it going back into the environment,” said Mi’kmaq Nation Vice Chief Richard Silliboy.
Finding a way to take per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, out of contaminated hemp plants without unintentionally releasing them into the air is the next step in the tribe’s effort to remediate 650 acres of polluted land the U.S. government turned over to it 15 years ago.
Advertisement
Using hemp plants to suck up PFAS from the ground has been touted nationally as a potential fix for the widespread pollution. But the Maine tribe’s experience has revealed a significant obstacle to making it work. Testing will soon be underway to try to find a solution to the roadblock.
PFAS refers to a group of manufactured chemicals often found in household and personal care products that have polluted soil and water at former manufacturing sites. Known to break down slowly, the long-lasting “forever chemicals” have been linked to increased risk of some cancers, issues with hormonal and immune systems, developmental delays in children, and other health issues, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The land the federal government gave the Mi’kmaq Nation in 2009 was so contaminated it was designated a federal Superfund site. The Mi’kmaq property used to be a key training area for Loring firefighters, who used a PFAS-laden foam.
The Air Force promised the tribe that it would clean all known toxins prior to the land transfer in 2009, but that did not happen, Silliboy said. The Mi’kmaq have largely been left on their own to clean the PFAS from their land.
Michael Daly, the EPA’s remedial project manager for Loring Air Force Base, said that a portion of the Mi’kmaq land is part of an Air Force study to determine how far foam might have spread from Loring’s airport. Daly directed other questions about clean-up efforts to the Air Force.
Advertisement
Air Force spokespeople have not responded to requests for comment.
Rather than wait for federal investigators, tribal leaders found their own way to begin removing PFAS from soils on their property.
Mi’kmaq Nation Vice Chief Richard Silliboy plants hemp seeds in 2022 at the start of a research project studying whether hemp can extract PFAS from soil at property the tribes owns at the former Loring Air Force Base. Credit: Courtesy of Upland Grassroots
In 2019, Silliboy and Chelli Stanley co-founded Upland Grassroots, an organization dedicated to cleaning up the Mi’kmaq parcel. Stanley, who lives near Hallowell and has a background in community organizing, learned about hemp-based PFAS extraction and contacted Silliboy, who was immediately interested in its potential.
That year, Stanley, Silliboy and other tribal members planted and harvested several small plots of hemp plants on the Loring property. They sent the harvested hemp to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, a state-run scientific research facility.
Initial data showed that the hemp plants were extracting various forms of PFAS, including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS. In summer 2022 the group planted five larger plots, with four hemp varieties grown in smaller subsections within each plot.
Advertisement
Of the 28 PFAS varieties identified in the soil, 10 were found in the harvested hemp plants, according to the group’s research published earlier this year.
Stanley and the Mi’kmaq Nation want to eventually expand the number and size of hemp plants to test for larger extractions of PFAS. But without a safe method to dispose of the PFAS-laden hemp, the group’s research can only happen on a smaller scale.
“We don’t want to put the hemp in a landfill and have it be somebody else’s problem,” Stanley said.
One of the group’s scientific partners, the University of Virginia, is currently developing and will soon be testing a method to take PFAS out of hemp plants, according to Bryan Berger, a chemical engineering professor.
Berger declined to reveal what method will be tested but said that if successful, he and colleagues could publish results in early 2025.
Advertisement
Hemp, like other plant species containing toxic contaminants, cannot simply be burned, Berger said.
“That ends up creating airborne forms [of PFAS] that can end up in the atmosphere,” Berger said.
Hemp-based research related to PFAS extraction has been limited, as industrial hemp was only approved for agricultural use in 2018, and funding for such studies remains limited. But Berger and tribal partners recently scored a major funding source to expand their efforts and work toward long-term solutions.
Starting in 2025, the Mi’kmaq Nation, Stanley, Berger, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District will use a four-year, $1.6 million EPA grant to continue hemp planting at Loring and testing potential ways to extract PFAS from harvested hemp.
The Mi’kmaq Nation and Upland Grassroots planted several plots of industrial hemp on land that the tribe owns on the former Loring Air Force Base to discover how much PFAS the hemp could absorb. Credit: Courtesy of Upland Grassroots
As part of the grant, the group will also test areas of the Aroostook River, a waterway that the Central Aroostook Soil & Water Conservation District has found to contain PFAS due to irrigation runoff from nearby crop fields. They will study hemp as a potential rotation crop for keeping PFAS from seeping into potatoes and other produce.
The agricultural studies will be a continuation of work that the conservation district has already begun, Berger said. His lab will test approximately 300 to 400 samples of water from the Aroostook River as well as potatoes and other crops to know the extent of PFAS contamination.
Advertisement
With colleagues from the Connecticut station, the group will study how PFAS moves through insect food chains using sample insects from Aroostook.
Berger credited the Mi’kmaq Nation and Stanley’s initial collaboration for being one of the first groups to study PFAS and hemp at the community level and bring attention to its potential.
“As a researcher, I have not seen a lot of people work on this until recently, so they’re way ahead of everybody else,” Berger said. “Our goal really is to help other tribes, farmers and rural communities who have been impacted [by PFAS].”
AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) – An emotional day from Fairfield to Augusta, but felt throughout Maine and beyond, as state officials, community members and loved ones honored the lives of two Department of Transportation workers who tragically died in the field.
Maine DOT Commissioner Dale Doughty described the accident as “the nightmare that commissioners worry about.”
While working on Interstate 95 in January, Maine DOT workers James “Jimmy” Brown, 60, and Dwayne Campbell, 51, died after a driver failed to brake at a stop sign and crashed into a tractor-trailer traveling on the highway.
To honor the men’s commitment to public service and their legacy as fathers, outdoorsmen and Mainers, a procession including DOT officials, family members and more traveled to the Augusta Civic Center Saturday for a memorial service.
Advertisement
Among those in attendance was Gov. Janet Mills, who remarked on who Brown and Campbell were and their dedication to their profession.
“Jimmy, as you know, worked for the Maine Department of Transportation for 12 years. Dwayne for more than 23 years,” Mills described. “We could count on Jimmy and Dwayne just as we could count on the 1,600 Maine dot workers who keep our roads and bridges safe every day.”
Brown was known for his humor and love of fishing, cars and his children.
Campbell got his start in the DOT by following in his father’s footsteps. Mills said at the service that Campbell loved his daughters and time spent outdoors.
For Commissioner Doughty, losses like this hit hard because of the closely bonded “family business” that DOT is.
Advertisement
That family expands past state lines, as departments of transportation from New Hampshire and Vermont were present to show their support.
New Hampshire DOT State Maintenance Engineer Alan Hanscom said he called Maine DOT just hours after hearing of the accident to see what his crews could do to help.
“My employees are impacted or subject to the same dangers that Maine and every other state is,” Hanscom said of the importance of his attendance. “I have an employee that was killed in a motor vehicle crash some years ago, so it kind of hits home.”
Saturday’s event served not only as a commemoration but also as a call to action. Despite DOT’s training, Doughty says it is rendered useless if motorists put right-of-way employees in danger through reckless or distracted driving.
Advertisement
Hanscom expanded: “People don’t realize that this is our office. You’re driving through our office space. We’d like you to give us some consideration and slow down and be mindful of where we are. Give us a little respect.”
Doughty mentioned that these dangers extend beyond DOT workers to everyone who does roadside work. Because of this, he says, agencies must join forces to develop solutions.
“I really think it’s time, and we have a meeting coming up in April, where we pull all agencies and all companies that work in the right-of-way, contractors, utilities, everyone to start to talk about that message,” Doughty said.
On the podium, Doughty told audiences: “Please help us carry forward their memory, not only with tears, but with action.”
On Thursday, the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation authorized the Maine Turnpike Authority to conduct a pilot program for speed enforcement in work zones. The legislation is now headed to the House and Senate.
Despite retaliation from their employer, nurses affirm their commitment to their patients and their union
Over two years since Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) first formed their union and began bargaining in good faith for a first contract, nurses remain committed to the patients they serve, and to making their hospital the best place it can be for everyone. Union nurses at NMMC signed the letter they released today, which says in part:
“Over the past two years, you have no doubt heard about the conflict that has grown between the hospital and us.
We want you to know that we never asked for this fight. The initiative to organize our union was to protect ourselves and our patients, not to punish any individuals or the hospital as a whole.”
The nurses’ letter goes on to say that their immediate goals as a union include: winning safe staffing for nurses and patients, promoting transparency and accountability at NMMC, retaining our local providers and staff, and making their hospital sustainable for the long term.
Advertisement
Terry Caron, RN and member of the nurses’ bargaining team said: “Two years ago, we decided to have a voice for ourselves and our patients by forming our union. The NMMC administration could have met us halfway, but it did not. It has only fought us and tried to punish us for speaking up. But we are as committed to our goals as ever. We will never stop fighting for our patients.”
NMMC nurses were joined today by Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, and U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner. They echoed the nurses’ call for NMMC CEO Jeff Zewe to stop his retaliation against the nurses and to finalize the union contract for which the nurses have been bargaining for most of the past two years.
Maine State Nurses Association is part of National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.
Max McClung scored 12 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and the Windy City Bulls went on a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 121-106 win over the Maine Celtics in an NBA G League game Friday night at the Portland Expo.
Kevin Knox II added 30 points, 21 in the second half.
Amari Williams led the Celtics with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Jalen Bridges made six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, but the Celtics dropped to 2-8 in their last 10 games. Maine has lost four straight games at the Expo.
