Maine
The limits of state action to address PFAS • Maine Morning Star
Among many striking observations I’ve heard from those affected by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), one from a farmer who had to abandon his contaminated land and home stands out: “I am unlucky that this happened to me,” Adam Nordell observed, “but I am lucky since it did that it happened in Maine.”
Farmers and consumers in Maine are indeed fortunate that the state has mobilized a concerted PFAS response, investing more than $200 million to date—much of it spent working to ensure that local foods are not laced with these persistent chemicals. But public health should not be a matter of geographic good fortune: every American deserves access to a clean environment.
Thirty states have now adopted measures related to PFAS while 22 have set standards to control these chemicals in drinking water. For residents of other states, the only protection from PFAS may come—if there is no regulatory rollback—when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new federal maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS in drinking water take full effect in 2029.
In some settings, residents cannot even get basic information on PFAS from their state agencies: a recent analysis by the PFAS Project Lab found that four states still don’t mention PFAS on their websites. Roughly a dozen states have failed to post updated information about the EPA’s drinking water guidance.
The EPA has not yet taken action to prevent contamination from PFAS-laden sludge, and for states like Maine and Connecticut that have banned this practice, local action is only a partial fix. A recent study of food consumption patterns in New England states found that 96% of the food Mainers buy comes from outside the state or region. Without action by the EPA, residents across the U.S. are at risk of consuming tainted foods. Nationwide, 31% of the PFAS-laden sewage sludge generated is still applied to agricultural lands.
Nor can states fully protect residents from PFAS in drinking water. Global concerns are growing about TFA (trifluoroacetic acid), a fluorinated compound from pesticides, pharmaceuticals and refrigerants that now appears in many drinking water supplies (and resists current means of treatment). States can’t easily test for this compound because it’s not on the federally certified testing protocol (the EPA does not define TFA as a PFAS). While acknowledging that there are no safe levels of certain PFAS, the agency defines each compound on a “case-by-case” basis, with no consistency, even among its own internal programs.
Lack of federal action leaves states unable to fully shelter their residents from persistent chemicals still in widespread production. And now, the future of federal support is in jeopardy. Project 2025, the blueprint for the incoming administration, proposes to deregulate PFAS—reversing recent measures enacted to recognize two PFAS as hazardous substances and to protect drinking water from these pernicious chemicals.
A version of this piece first appeared in Marina Schauffler’s Substack newsletter ContamiNation.
Posted inCommunity, News, Outdoors, Schools & Education
The group from Skowhegan Area High School’s outdoor leadership program built tables for the overlook in Dallas Plantation.
The loons are back and nesting on lakes statewide and we need your help to monitor their population! Every year since 1983, hundreds of volunteers have gone out to lakes and ponds across Maine on the third Saturday in July. These volunteers submit data about the number of loons they observe from 7 to 7:30 am, which gives us an excellent “snapshot” of the loon population. The Annual Loon Count allows us to monitor how the number of adults and chicks has changed over the past 40 years and make sure we know how to best protect their population!
This year, the Loon Count will take place on Saturday, July 18. We encourage you to join a group of over 1,800 volunteers and help us count the number of loons in Maine! The Loon Count occurs on lakes and ponds all across the state and volunteers can survey by boat or shore (you don’t have to have a boat to take part!).
If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact us at conserve@maineaudubon.org and tell us if there’s a specific lake or area you’d like to survey. We are always aiming to expand our coverage across the state and particularly encourage volunteers in northern Maine to get involved!
The deadline to sign up for the Annual Loon Count is July 10, so please reach out as soon as possible.
If you can’t make it on July 18, or if one day just isn’t enough for you, you can monitor loons throughout the summer.Through our Loon Pair Monitoring project, you can submit observations of breeding loon pairs over several months to help us better understand nest and chick success across Maine. Find out more here >
If talking to people and doing outreach appeals to you, and you’d like to help spread the word about loon conservation, check out our Look Out for Loons outreach program.
THOMASTON, Maine (WGME) — The Maine DEA says they arrested two people on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking out of Vinalhaven.
Mariah Grover, 22, and Jefferson Jazzir Arias, 27, were reportedly arrested following an investigation by the Maine DEA’s Mid-Coast Task Force and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office into suspected drug trafficking from the island of Vinalhaven to Rockland via ferry.
Jefferson Jazzir Arias (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Both Grover, a resident of Texas and Maine, and Arias, a resident of Texas and California, were pulled over by authorities in Thomaston in a car that had been identified in that investigation, according to the Maine DEA.
The Maine DEA says a search of the car found 66 grams of suspected cocaine, a .45 caliber handgun, $9,500 in suspected drug money, and other “items indicative of drug trafficking.”
Mariah Grover (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Authorities say Arias had two extraditable warrants related to robbery in California and theft in Texas. Arias was reportedly charged with aggravated trafficking in Schedule W drugs, and Grover was charged with unlawful trafficking in Schedule W drugs.
Grover was reportedly taken to Knox County Jail on a $50,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on May 29th.
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Arias was also taken to Knox County Jail on a $75,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on the same day, according to authorities.
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