In December, my son Adam Nordell and his wife Johanna Davis learned that their farm in Unity had been contaminated with PFAS through the state-sponsored sewage sludge spreading program of the early 1990s. Their well, their soil, their bodies and most of their crops were tested and shown to be heavily laden with these so-called “forever chemicals.” Their lives have been thrown into turmoil. They have shut down their farm operations and are trying to move, to allow their bodies and their 3-year-old son’s body to slowly shed the noxious chemicals. Finding a suitable and affordable place to live, near child care and near their network of friends, is a near-impossibility in the overheated real estate market of coastal Maine, where second-homers, tourists, and Air BnB entrepreneurs have bought up everything in sight.

L.D. 2013 would provide funds to help farmers like Adam and Johanna figure out how to rebuild their lives. Maine has a responsibility to help them. Ultimately the chemical companies who hid the facts about PFAS and who tried to convince us of “better living through chemistry” may be forced to pay for the damage they have done, and the state may recover its costs through them and through the state’s liability insurance. But the farmers need help now. Please write and call your representatives and urge them to pass L.D. 2013.

Larry Nordell

Helena, Montana