PFAS: What do they mean for Maine land trusts?

Wed., Apr. 6, at 9:30 am - 10:30 am

You are invited to join us for a Zoom discussion on PFAS and their potential impacts on Maine land trusts.

Advance registration is required for this meeting. 

Click here to register:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkdOyhrzMuHtKismD4m_I54PBT3gANQLub .  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About the Meeting

PFAs are a group of chemicals which are very persistent in the environment and in the human body. These chemicals have been produced and used in a variety of products and industries since the 1950s, ranging from food packaging to firefighting foam. PFAS enter agricultural soils through a variety of means, including biosolids from municipal sewage and contaminated irrigation water, and from there they may be taken up by plants and then by animals, and may also enter drinking water.

Since this story about Songbird Farm, an organic farm in Unity, hit the news, more Maine farms are discovering they have dangerous levels of PFAS in their soil and water. For land trusts owned lands that have a past or current life as farmland, as well as currently working farms with conservation easements attached, this may be highly concerning news. 

Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) has been working with some of their easement landowners who have found high levels of PFAS on their farms, and some who have discovered that their leased land has high levels of PFAs, and has partnered with MOFGA on a PFAS Emergency Relief Fund for impacted farms. Maine Coast Heritage Trust staff have been looking into how PFAs impact not only food production, but also the programs that take place at Aldermere Farm and the hayfields they manage. In addition, MFT is also doing some state and federal level advocacy work around this issue, and working on updating their easement due diligence process to include PFAS testing when there is a potential risk.

If you can’t attend live but want to participate, please pre-register. All registrants will receive a link to the recording.