Nancy Zane of Unity is a recreational and sea kayak guide. She is also an Instructor for SOLO School of Wilderness Medicine.

I have been a Maine Guide and outdoor educator for over 25 years, and I intimately understand the value of Maine’s clean environment. This year, Maine’s PFAS in product’s law is being challenged by some companies, many of them from out-of-state, that use the forever chemicals in their products. 

I believe the Legislature should strengthen the law to clean up our environment and protect everything that makes Maine such a special place. I happen to live in a community with PFAS contaminated farms, and I can see the impacts of the contamination everytime I drive to the store.

PFAS have been linked to liver disease, kidney cancer and other life-threatening ailments. The chemicals are used in thousands of products, which end up washing down the drains in our homes, businesses, and end up in our landfills. Our wastewater treatment plants do not have the technology available to remove PFAS. Ultimately, these chemicals end up in our rivers and bays, and when our waterways get contaminated, so do our fish and wildlife resources.

We’ve read about the sludge-impacted, rural farming communities like the one where I live. By last fall, the Maine Department of Agriculture had identified at least 73 farms with PFAS contamination, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has identified a staggering 540 contaminated drinking water wells. 

PFAS is also impacting our hunters and fishermen and the livelihood of registered Maine guides. Failing to stop PFAS pollution puts our outdoor industry and tourism sectors at jeopardy. 

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife found dangerous levels of PFAS in deer and turkeys in Fairfield, and has begun sampling wildlife in nearby towns with contaminated farms. Last year, Portland’s Fox News station reported the alarm experienced by Fairfield area hunters, one of whom lost his daughter to kidney and heart-disease, which is sometimes linked to PFAS..  

PFAS contaminated fish have been found in waterbodies across Maine. PFAS-contaminated fish samples have been found in Aroostook County, the midcoast and southern Maine. PFAS are impacting fish in the Penobscot Nation’s waters and where the Meduxnekeag River flows through the Houlton Maliseet Reservation, threatening the tribes’ traditional cultural practices. The chemicals are also in fish from central Maine recreational hotpots like China Lake and Unity Pond.

The Maine Center for Disease Control has issued a PFAS fish consumption advisory for 11 Maine waterbodies, including a do-not-eat advisory for waterbodies in Fairfield. When Maine CDC brings its advisories in accordance with EPA’s proposed safe drinking water limit, the number of rivers and ponds with do-not-eat advisories will likely expand dramatically to include water bodies all over the state. 

We desperately need to get these chemicals out of our products and out of our waste stream. 

Maine’s outdoor heritage is central to who we are as a state, but it’s also a significant and expanding sector of the Maine economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Maine’s outdoor economy generated $3.3 billion in 2022 and employed around 32,000 Mainers. The outdoor industry expanded more than 16% that year and accounted for about 4% of the state’s GDP. Even those impressive numbers may not capture all of the people coming to enjoy our unpolluted natural places. The broader tourism economy, which is largely dependent on the attraction of Maine’s unspoiled places, grossed $8.6 billion in 2022. We cannot afford to sully Maine’s brand by continuing to pollute our rivers, bays,fish, and wildlife.

We need to protect our clean environment for the sake of our health, our hunting and fishing traditions and for the sake of our state’s economy. Please tell your legislators that you support Maine’s PFAS in products law. Let’s work together to protect our outdoor industries and keep Maine clean.

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