STOPPING ‘FOREVER’ CHEMICALS POLLUTING MAINE DRINKING WATER
STOPPING ‘FOREVER’ CHEMICALS POLLUTING MAINE DRINKING WATER
Lawrence and Penny Higgins bought the old farmhouse they’d always wanted 28 years ago in Fairfield, Maine.
Last October, Lawrence heard that the Department of Environmental Protection was testing their neighbors’ drinking water wells for pollution. Across Maine, where compost containing contaminated sludge was spread across farmland, drinking water has been found with toxic “forever” chemicals known as PFAS. With farmland just across the street, Lawrence decided to get their well tested too.
Two weeks later, the DEP called and told Lawrence not to drink the water, cook with the water, or give it to the animals—it was contaminated.
Now, Lawrence is taking action. He called Community Action Works and started Fairfield Water Concerned Citizens with just a few neighbors. Now, the group has over 200 members on Facebook, and they’re calling on Maine to test every well in Fairfield, get clean water to every household, end the use of sludge spreading, and make polluters pay for the mess they created.
