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Inescapable: Facing Up to Forever Chemicals

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • August 10, 2026

Invisible and nearly indestructible, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have seeped into the blood of almost every American and permeated the natural world. Inescapable reveals how ordinary people are tackling the toxic impacts from this sprawling class of industrial compounds—long used in consumer products, building supplies, and firefighting foam and still widely produced. Journalist Marina Schauffler recounts how PFAS contamination in Maine, a state known for its bountiful farms, woods, and waters, has upended lives and livelihoods, endangered public health, and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Maine is among states at the forefront of PFAS testing and regulation, but no region is immune from this chemical threat.

White shark dragged lifeguard underwater in Scarborough this weekend, officials say

MAINE PUBLIC • August 10, 2026

A lifeguard had a close call with a white shark at Scarborough Beach State Park over the weekend. Daryen Granata said the lifeguard was swimming back to shore Saturday with his hand strapped to a plastic rescue device. "A white shark grabbed hold of the line, or the torp, and pulled the lifeguard down five or six feet underwater," Granata said. "The lifeguard was able to shed the strap and then he began to swim in." The lifeguard made it back to shore safely. The incident occurred about 50 yards off the beach. There have been a number of white shark sightings in the area within the last week.

Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 10, 2026

The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. July averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit (24.94 degrees Celsius) across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree.

Tell Congress NO IMMUNITY FOR BIG OIL!

MAINE CONSERVATION VOTERS • August 10, 2026

Big Oil is pushing Congress for something no industry should get: a special shield from accountability. Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation that would block climate lawsuits and state laws aimed at making fossil fuel companies help pay for the damage they’ve caused. Here in Maine, that could undermine our progress toward holding Big Oil accountable and establishing a Maine Climate Superfund program. On Thursday, August 27, Maine Conservation Voters is joining our partners in the Make Polluters Pay coalition for two rallies calling on Maine’s congressional delegation to reject immunity for Big Oil:
• PORTLAND, August 27 at 12 PM, Lobsterman Park, 1 Temple Street
• LEWISTON, August 27 at 4 PM, location coming soon

Maine state park closes beaches to swimmers after shark sightings

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 10, 2026

Reid State Park has closed its beaches to swimmers after a spate of shark sightings last week. There will be no swimming at Mile, Half Mile and East beaches Monday after shark sightings Friday and Saturday. The sharks may have been attracted to the area because of an abundance of seals and baitfish. That comes on the heels of sightings of numerous great white sharks in the waters off Scarborough last week.

Crews responding to fire on shores of Moosehead Lake

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 9, 2026

Emergency crews were responding to a structure fire Sunday evening near the Rockwood town landing on the shores of Moosehead Lake. It’s the second major fire in the region in as many days.

13 cars derail on CSX train between Veazie and Orono

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 9, 2026

Thirteen cars derailed from a CSX train Saturday afternoon between Veazie and the Penobscot County Country Club. No leaks, spills or hazards to the public were reported, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection confirmed no release and no impact to the Penobscot River.

Fire crews battle blaze at old Moosehead Mill

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 9, 2026

Multiple fire departments from both Piscataquis and Penobscot counties battled a blaze at the Moosehead Mill in Monson on Saturday night. Monson Deputy Fire Chief Terry Gaudet told Newscenter Maine that mill owners had a permit to burn debris, but the fire got out of control and spread to buildings, at least three of which were a total loss. [The Moosehead Manufacturing Company was founded in 1948. In its 23 years of operation, Moosehead became famous for its design and craftsmanship of Early American furniture.]

Maine paper mill employees asked for safety monitors for decades. It took 2 deaths to get them.

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 9, 2026

Most toilet paper, tissues, paper towels and napkins start out as woodchips. At mills like Woodland Pulp in Washington County they get cooked to a brown mush. The employees are regularly exposed to several toxic chemicals. A common practice in paper mills is to wear a personal monitor that detects hydrogen sulfide. Shawn Howland has lobbied four different superintendents for the monitors over his 27 years in the bleach plant. His requests were denied by various corporate owners. A toxic gas leak that killed two men in January has cost the investment firm that owns the plant, International Grand Investment Corporation, $16 million in property damage plus nearly $800,000 in proposed fines, and any penalties that may result from future lawsuits by the families of the victims. The personal gas monitors for the employees who needed them cost about $100 each.

Maine’s mountain bike scene getting big lift from ski resorts

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 9, 2026

Mountain biking in Maine is coming of age, as the state becomes a destination for riders from the rest of New England and Canada. The Greater Portland chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association serves a mountain bike community of more than 10,000 riders, which is enough to support four full-time bike shops. The biggest concentration of trails built specifically for mountain biking can be found in Carrabassett Valley, Bethel and Greenville. In greater Portland, there is a 55-mile network of trails in Gorham, with more coming to the Falmouth-Windham corridor. In all, Maine has nearly 600 miles of mountain bike trails.

Lisbon Street study highlights good and bad of roadway

SUN JOURNAL • August 9, 2026

Outer Lisbon Street is good for drivers, but not so much for pedestrians and bicyclists. That’s the main takeaway from the Lisbon Street Safety and Mobility Plan. There’s too much speeding, it’s unsafe to cross, there’s no way to bicycle. It’s hard for some people to imagine it with what’s out there today, but we’re trying to provide a vision for a roadway that could be so much more than it is today.”

This Maine wild blueberry industry pioneer is still growing and promoting at age 91

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 9, 2026

Dell Emerson sat watching a conveyor belt run at Wescogus Wild Blueberry on Thursday. All around him was evidence of a lifetime growing not just blueberries, but the state’s wild blueberry industry. Emerson, 91, designed and built the equipment used here and by other small growers. He spent 53 years working nearby at the University of Maine’s wild blueberry research station, 30 as its manager, during a period that roughly nearly quadrupled yields of Washington County’s iconic crop. With his wife, Marie, he built Wild Blueberry Land, a blueberry-colored geodesic dome with a shop and museum on Route 1 in Columbia Falls that’s become a popular attraction for travelers. “His goal was to save small farms, and he’s done it in many, many ways,” Marie Emerson said.

A southern Aroostook group is slowing shoreline erosion with natural materials

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 8, 2026

Ecological landscape designer Rebecca Jacobs created a living wall along the shore of a Nickerson Lake home, Friday, in New Limerick, demonstrating an alternative way to prevent erosion using plants, logs, live stakes and existing rock. About 16 people attended the three-hour workshop. “We’re trying to get the natural stuff to grow back,” said Larry Bruen about the Orono effort. “It’s natural erosion control. I wanted to come here to see and learn more about it. And now I know the reasons why.” Last year, Maine regulators passed new rules that place restrictions on riprap and other hardened structures. Instead, they offered landowners expedited permitting for the creation of living shorelines that use existing materials like logs, rocks, root wads and dead tree limbs.

Protesters gather to oppose Amazon facility on proposed site in Gorham

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 8, 2026

A ‘Day on the Land’ event brought about 50 people to the undeveloped site on Main Street to rally against the megaretailer’s plans to build a warehouse and distribution center. “It’s a way of symbolically, even just for one day, reclaiming the land as the property of the people of Gorham,” said Josh Trombley, a leader of Gorham United, the group that organized the event. “We think that this project is going to bring a lot of negative impact without significant benefits.” Impacts on traffic in a town already struggling with crammed roads, environmental damage, low-value job creation and incompatibility with the town’s comprehensive plan were the main concerns.

Study in Saco Bay aims to fill data gaps about juvenile white sharks

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 8, 2026

A biology professor from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is studying juvenile white sharks who come close to Maine’s coast, at a time when there have been multiple sightings near a beach in Scarborough. “Is this an anomaly, or are these animals becoming residents of your coastal waters?” Diego Bernal said in an interview Friday. His study is focused on Saco Bay, working primarily from Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough. “Our goal is to tag 30 juvenile white sharks in that area to see what they do, where they go, how long they stay and do they come back next year,” Bernal said.

Opinion: Right whales can’t wait 7 more years for lobstermen to make changes to protect them

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 8, 2026

There are only about 380 North Atlantic right whales alive now. They’re slow to reproduce and one of the biggest threats to their survival is getting entangled in fishing gear. A pause on new protections is set to expire in 2028. Rep. Jared Golden’s Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act would push the current moratorium on new right whale protections from 2028 to 2035. Congress set a six-year limit on this pause in 2022. This bill would make it last 13 years. Right whales cannot simply wait another seven years. A federal court already ruled that fishery limits have to stand to comply with the Endangered Species Act. We need a version of this bill that includes funding for gear that doesn’t kill whales and a public accounting of what’s already been spent buying “more time.” ~ Cindy Lowry, Maine-based environmental advocate with the International Marine Mammal Project

Column: Follow Thoreau journey to Mount Kineo for one of Maine finest mountaintop vistas

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 8, 2026

The historic steamboat “Katahdin” cruises steadily northwest toward the unmistakable profile of Mount Kineo. I lean on the railing and drink in the glorious sight, one of many beautiful scenes to behold amid the sprawling waters of Moosehead Lake. Henry David Thoreau, the famed naturalist, essayist and philosopher, traveled this same route. In 1857, he and his companions negotiated the big lake in birch bark canoes and climbed Kineo. Mount Kineo State Park encompasses 800 acres on the peninsula, purchased in 1990 using funds from the Land for Maine’s Future program. The park, managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands, features four hiking trails and several primitive campsites. ~ Carey Kish

Boil water order in effect for some Jay neighborhoods

SUN JOURNAL • August 8, 2026

The Jay Water District issued a boil water order Saturday morning for customers in the North Jay Water District. Because of the possibility of unsafe water, the North Jay Water District said residents who live south of Look Brook Circle on Route 4, Route 17, Jerry Street, Old Jay Hill Road, Purrington Road and Mountain View Road should boil water for at least one minute before use.

At Central Maine’s Cobbossee Lake, local groups fight off infestation of invasive aquatic plants

CENTRAL MAINE • August 8, 2026

Cobbossee Lake is the ideal picture of summertime lake life in Maine — lake houses dot the waterfront, pontoon boats coast around with families on board and loon calls echo from shore to shore. But under the surface of the water, a battle is ongoing. The Cobbosseecontee Lake Association and Watershed Friends have been fighting to control and remove an aquatic invasive species, Eurasian watermilfoil, since it was first discovered in the lake in 2018. While this year marks the first year the central Maine lake is not part of the state DEP’s “Rapid Response” program, in which herbicides are applied to try to eradicate the plant completely, Eurasian watermilfoil has continued to spread in the lake.