Recent testing has found some level of "forever chemicals" at every wastewater treatment facility in Maine. The Department of Environmental Protection conducted more than 600 tests of treated wastewater at 105 facilities, and just 12 tests did not detect the chemicals commonly known as PFAS.
The tests were conducted over six months, and suggest that nearly 25 pounds of PFAS chemicals are being released every year in treated wastewater. The exact source of high concentrations of chemicals at some facilities is unclear.
The Bangor Wastewater Treatment Facility released the highest amount, about 3.5 pounds, followed by the Kennebec Sanitary Treatment District with just over three pounds.
The Bangor Daily News first reported the numbers, which were requested and analyzed by Nathan Saunders, an environmental engineer and Fairfield resident personally affected by the contamination.
Jean MacRae, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maine, says the numbers are consistent with what's being found in other parts of the country.
"There's a lot of data coming out of Maine, that doesn't exist for other states," she said. "So we're more knowledgeable about what the conditions are here, but I'm not getting a sense from the numbers that I've seen that we're a particularly bad example."
Although the chemicals can be filtered out of drinking water, MacRae said filtering wastewater will be more challenging, because of the other contaminants present.
