MAINE PUBLIC • April 7, 2022
A group of wastewater treatment operators, farmers and landfill operators are urging lawmakers to reject a proposed ban on the spreading of sludge on land. After years of sounding the alarm about contamination with the so-called "forever chemicals" known as PFAS, environmental and health activists as well as some farmers are now pushing to end the long-standing practice in Maine of using treated municipal sludge as fertilizer. Lawmakers have tightened health standards on the industrial chemicals now linked to cancer, kidney disease and a growing list of the problems. They’ve also set aside tens of millions of dollars to clean up contaminated sites. But David Hughes with the Scarborough Sanitary District said Thursday that eliminating the option of spreading treated sludge on land will double his costs of disposing of sludge.