Maine has been ramping up its efforts to identify and address contamination from PFAS, a group of chemicals that can remain in the environment for a long time and have been linked to a long list of illnesses. The state has identified 34 high-priority communities for PFAS testing. It has enacted more stringent PFAS drinking water standards. It is spending millions of dollars for testing, treatment and remediation.
And yet, it is still possible for PFAS-containing sludge from wastewater treatment plants to be spread on agricultural lands in the state.
As Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim told lawmakers Monday, the amount of this waste being spread has decreased since testing requirements were added in 2019, but “there are still volumes of septage and sludge that are being land applied” currently.
LD 1911, a bill from independent Rep. Bill Pluecker of Warren, aims to address this continued practice. The initial version of this legislation would prevent the use of sludge or sludge-derived compost unless it is tested and does not exceed state PFAS screening levels, along with requiring the DEP to update those screening levels.
“Our land has been contaminated. Our farmers are looking for new ways of making mortgage payments and paying their workers,” Pluecker, who is also a farmer, testified to his fellow lawmakers on Jan. 24. “It is time that we take responsibility as a legislature for the pollution of our past, and stop the compounding contamination.”
We strongly agree.
We try to come at this with a hefty amount of humility. The complexity and interconnectedness of this and other waste disposal challenges cannot be overstated. We certainly don’t have all the answers. A lot of well-intended people are wrestling with a growing list of problems and few, if any, good options.
Nobody should pretend it’s easy to deal with these “forever chemicals” that might as well be called “everywhere chemicals.” The need to turn off this contamination spigot that has been opened on Maine farmland, however, should be a universal point of agreement in an admittedly complicated situation.
The state should not keep allowing a practice that has had disastrous results for a growing number of Maine farms, even in the name of gathering more data and developing the proper process. Data and deliberation are important, surely. But as the state continues its necessary work to learn more about the extent of PFAS contamination and to develop better processes for its disposal, there is more than enough evidence to conclude that allowing the use of industrial and municipal sludge as fertilizer has been a costly waste stream mistake.
While the state deals with past mistakes, it should also move quickly to prevent future ones.
To us, with this bill, it boils down to a fairly simple question: With Maine spending so much time, effort and money to identify and deal with existing areas of PFAS contamination, does it make any sense to allow for new sites to be created through the continued spreading of this sludge? The answer, we hope, will be obvious for all members of the Maine Legislature.
During a committee hearing last week, the bill had support from environmental organizations, some farming groups, concerned citizens and others. It also received support from the DEP, though the department asked for some changes to the bill to slow its timeline for implementation and consider more data.
Wastewater officials from Maine’s two largest cities were notable opponents, worrying the bill could undermine existing regulatory protections and raising concerns about its timing, among other concerns.
A potential amendment to the bill was discussed Monday during a committee work session. According to legislative staff, this would include “a complete prohibition on the application or spreading of sludge, any compost material that included sludge or septage in its production, and any other product or material derived from or containing sludge or septage” in agricultural purposes. Under the proposed amendment, the bill would also become an emergency measure and, if passed, be enacted faster. All of that sounds good to us.
Republican Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, a cosponsor of the bill, acknowledged this would be a “pretty dramatic” approach.
“But we cannot, in my view, continue to spread contaminaments knowingly on agricultural land and elsewhere,” Bennett continued. “We just need to say, ‘Stop it.’” Hard to disagree with that.
For now, as others have convincingly argued, the least worst current option for this sludge seems to be landfills and not farmland. That is not to say the least worst option is simple or cheap.
The PFAS picture is evolving and often murky. But at least one thing is clear: Lawmakers should pass a ban on sludge spreading. Despite some calls for further deliberation and data, this action is needed now. If anything, it is overdue.