A wastewater treatment project in central Maine that has piloted a cutting-edge system to remove forever chemicals is on hold as it seeks more money to get up and running.
The Anson-Madison Sanitary District has been working for several years with engineers to develop a centralized facility to treat waste containing forever chemicals, potentially from across Maine. The system can remove toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, from wastewater. PFAS, which are difficult to break down in the environment, have been linked to serious illnesses including kidney cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The project was announced with fanfare in 2022 as a first-of-its-kind system in Maine that can remove and concentrate PFAS from wastewater inexpensively. The system also is simpler to operate and maintain than other PFAS-removal systems, said Dale Clark, the Madison-based district’s superintendent. The goal is to develop a centralized system to clean wastewater, which typically is discharged untreated into Maine rivers.
The project initially received $11 million from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The problem is that available grants now are in small amounts, so it is taking time to accumulate the $20 million needed to complete the project, Clark said.
Clark hopes to get a Maine DEP grant of between $1 million and $2 million next month and more grants afterward. He expects to be able to complete the project in one year.
The district has tested a small-scale pilot system from Portland-based Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies. That system used a technology known as foam fractionation, which adds air bubbles to wastewater.
The technique causes PFAS chemicals to form a foam on the top of the water. The foam is about 1 percent of the volume of the water, so 100 gallons of water would form about 1 gallon of PFAS foam, which is then treated with carbon and discarded into a landfill.
Clark said the system can remove about 98 percent of the 700 parts per trillion or more of PFAS chemicals in the water. The untreated water is not healthy for people who recreate on the river or for aquatic life, he said.
Still, the cleaned wastewater is not for drinking. Clark sees the system investment as a way to clean up the river over time by discharging cleaner wastewater.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Lori Valigra reports on the environment for the BDN’s Maine Focus investigative team. Reach her at lvaligra@bangordailynews.com. Support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation, a fund at the Maine Community Foundation and donations by BDN readers.