BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 5, 2025
For decades, industrial companies such as DuPont and 3M have manufactured PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — that have been used in everyday products like clothing, furniture, packaging and carpeting. These chemicals, often called “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment, can accumulate in municipal wastewater treatment systems. Passive receivers of biosolids — like landfills or composting facilities such as Hawk Ridge in Unity — are left to manage the consequences of PFAS they neither created nor caused. Casella, which acquired Hawk Ridge Compost Facility in 2000, has operated the facility in compliance with applicable regulations for more than two decades. Yet, following Maine’s 2022 ban on the land application of biosolids and compost derived from biosolids, and after extensive dialogue with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Casella has made the difficult decision to close the facility. We must work collectively on upstream solutions and not just focus solely on downstream regulations. Policymakers at all levels should ban PFAS-containing products and producers of these chemicals and the manufacturers who use them must be held legally responsible for environmental cleanup. ~ John W. Casella, chairman and CEO of Casella