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It was disheartening to hear Gov. Janet Mills has signed the misguided public law, known as LD 1911. Its title alone — An Act To Prevent the Further Contamination of the Soils and Waters of the State with So-called Forever Chemicals — made it hard to vote against. However, I believe the passage of LD 1911 is a knee jerk reaction to the sad and serious situation in Maine as a result of industrially contaminated biosolids applied to soils decades ago. The legislation is not based on current science or a risk assessment and inexplicitly exempts other materials that contain PFAS in similar concentrations to today’s biosolids.
Ignoring the science and regulators makes for bad policy. The ineffectiveness and significant unintended consequences of this bill will soon come to light.
Members of the North East Biosolids & Residuals Association include water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) throughout Maine. The managers of these WRRFs all share concerns about PFAS and the need to phase out those that threaten public health. Our members are on the frontline of water quality protection, providing the essential public service of clean water and treated biosolids every day. These WRRFs are part of the solution, not the problem.
With landfilling as the only in-state option for managing biosolids and septage waste, Maine is headed down an unsustainable road. Everyone who uses a toilet will pay while the real polluters are not being held responsible for the costs of cleaning up their messes.
Janine Burke-Wells
Executive Director
North East Biosolids & Residuals Association
Hope, Rhode Island