Trail of 'forever chemicals' leads to Maine paper mills
FAIRFIELD — For 32 of its 33 years in this quiet corner of central Maine farm country, the Saunders family has reveled in the solitude, the wildlife and the views that stretch 40 miles to the coastal mountains on clear days.
Even the cornfields across from Nathan Saunders’ modest, saltbox-style home and 5-acre lot added to the peaceful setting where he and his wife raised three boys.
Since January, however, the couple has questioned whether they’ve been poisoned for decades in their own sanctuary. Water collected from their well contained 850 times as much PFAS as new Maine health standards say is safe, and 185 times more of the industrial chemicals than federal regulators say should be in drinking water.
The cause of the contamination is now clear: Sludge from paper mills or wastewater treatment plans that was applied as fertilizer. The sludge contained high levels of the “forever chemicals,” unbeknownst to the farmers who spread it for years on those cornfields or homeowners all along Saunders’ road whose wells draw from underground water tables.
Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/18/trail-of-forever-chemicals-leads-to-maine-paper-mills/
(Portland Press Herald)
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