Farmers and environmental well being advocates name for state and nationwide motion on PFAS

“One of many issues that we will do for these sorts of communities is to have a program to offer funding for counseling, and probably for medical monitoring afterwards, however a minimum of so that individuals can discover out what their exposures are to tell their additional medical practices, their clinicians and their choice making going ahead,” Elliott mentioned. 

When noting teams which can be prone to have a historical past of elevated publicity to PFAS, farmers who’ve put biosolids on their fields had been one of many teams advisable for blood testing, Elliot mentioned.

Adam Nordell, a farmer and a marketing campaign supervisor for Defend Our Well being, mentioned his farm was contaminated by PFAS by way of sewage sludge utilized to the land as fertilizer. Consequently his farm has been put out of enterprise and his household has been uncovered to dangerous chemical substances. 

“Farmers work extremely exhausting to provide clear, wholesome meals for our prospects, for our communities, and none of us wish to ship product out the door with poisonous chemical substances in them. All of us have an funding in a clear wholesome meals system, all of us eat meals grown on farms. So this is a matter that all of us have an funding in,” Nordell mentioned. 

This challenge is impacting farms throughout the nation with an estimated 5% of U.S. farmland — or 20 million acres — having been unfold with sludge with none testing for PFAS, Nordell mentioned. 

Jason Grostic, whose Brighton, Mich., farm was additionally contaminated with PFAS says Michigan affords nothing for farmers, not like Maine. 

“We get to roughly stay our lives with no help in any respect, which wants to alter massive time,” Grostic mentioned. 

“As I preserve telling all people, we have to get forward of [PFAS] earlier than it will get forward of us, however I don’t consider Michigan is being attentive to that facet of it,” Grostic mentioned.

Whereas Michigan has applied a program for lowering PFAS in biosolids and stopping therapy amenities with elevated PFAS ranges from making use of their sludge to land, a lot of the state’s efforts to deal with PFAS are centered on ingesting water and groundwater. 

Maine has banned the appliance of business and municipal sewage sludge, generally known as biosolids, on farmland, and put aside $60 million to assist farmers deal with the influence of contamination. 

Whereas the $60 million just isn’t sufficient, it’s begin, mentioned Sarah Woodbury, director of advocacy for Defend Our Well being. 

After examine finds PFAS in 45% of American water samples, Michigan officers contemplate subsequent steps

“It is extremely vital for the federal authorities to step up. However as everyone knows, the federal authorities isn’t precisely essentially the most speedy of bureaucracies, and it’ll take them time,” Woodbury mentioned. 

“Whereas Congress works on that, on the farm invoice and different points, states must step up and comply with what Maine has carried out,” Woodbury mentioned.

This consists of banning all non-essential use of PFAS in merchandise to guard towards additional contamination, and contemplating insurance policies on using sludge on farmland. They need to additionally put aside funds to assist farmers with issues like revenue substitute, farm buybacks, medical monitoring and psychological well being monitoring, Woodbury mentioned. 

“States ought to comply with Maine’s lead and do the appropriate factor to guard our farmland and to guard our farmers, who’re important to our economic system and our lifestyle,” Woodbury mentioned.