An advisory committee is considering a plan to spend millions of dollars from a new state PFAS response fund to provide farmers with loan assistance, research, land purchases and medical monitoring and support.
The $60 million fund was created by the legislature last year. And director Beth Valentine told legislators on Monday that an advisory committee may recommend spending nearly half of the funding on direct support to farmers whose land has been contaminated by the so-called "forever chemicals."
That would include income replacement, as well as the hiring of navigators to guide farmers through the recovery process.
"They need somebody to help sort out what the resources are, what the potential paths forward are. And then help with the phone calls and the paperwork. And guide and help them navigate forward," Valentine said.
Valentine says that an advisory group will meet in July to finalize its recommendations for how to administer the PFAS Fund.
