Maine organizations researching PFAS are the latest groups to face sudden grant terminations, this time from the Environmental Protection Agency. And while some are appealing those decisions, they say even if funds are reinstated, this has delayed important research into how PFAS moves through the food chain.
The EPA has terminated grants for the University of Maine, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, the Mi’kmaq Nation and the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District.
All were focused on different areas of how PFAS behaves when moving through soil, water, plants and livestock.
"So it's just very strange, and I'm not sure why, so we don't really know why they canceled it, or I don't," said Chellie Stanley, co-founder of Upland Grassroots.
"It's a four-year study, which is really important to get this data and understand PFAS better for the sake of human health and the environment," she said.
Upland Grassroots is one of the organizations working with the Mi’kmaq Nation and the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. All three are considered sub-contractors working with the University of Virginia, the lead organization with the EPA grant for $1.6 million over four years.
And now they’ve all had to figure out how to put their research on hold, or as much as they can.
"In our situation, we really can't stop," said Randy Martin, executive director of the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District.
He’s been working to see how PFAS from irrigation water builds up in soil, and how different plants absorb the chemicals.
"In case the grant is reinstated, I have to continue to plant the crops on schedule and water the crops on schedule when needed and then collect the samples and freeze them and store them," Martin said.
Stanley said other groups are in the same boat as Martin, the Mi’kmaq Nation researchers are freezing samples of fiddleheads and ash trees.
The termination letter from the EPA said the grants are no longer aligned with agency priorities. But that contradicts recent public statements made by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Last Thursday, Rep. Chellie Pingree questioned Zeldin on the grant cancellations when he appeared before the House Appropriations Committee.
"All were working on PFAs and their impacts to human health and our food supplies, important work, and they're all a top priority," Pingree said. "Since these grants are consistent with the EPA priorities, do you know why they were terminated and what the status is of the Passamaquoddy tribe grant?"
Zeldin’s response focused on the agency’s current reorganization.
"It's an important program," he said. "It's something that's congressionally appropriated. The agency is going through a reorg, so the way that the program and these grants are going to get administered are going to be different going forward."
When asked to comment on the grant terminations, an EPA spokesperson said, “Maybe the Biden-Harris Administration shouldn’t have forced their radical agenda of wasteful DEI programs and ‘environmental justice’ preferencing on the EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
The differing explanations only make the situation more frustrating, Stanley said.
"Now, we're having to do a lot of outreach and trying to get the funds reinstated, and trying to figure out, like, what's going on with the new EPA administration," she said.
Pingree has sent an additional letter to the agency, seeking answers for the contradicting responses on the terminations, calling them illegal and unconstitutional.
The University of Virginia submitted an appeal on Wednesday, on behalf of the entire research group, Stanley said.
Randy Martin of the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District said the appeal process is a lot of work during a busy time of year.
"The district has other research going on, and things have to get put in and planted," he said. "And so when you're out in when you're supposed to be out in the field, planting stuff, you kind of have to be in the office and doing calls and writing papers. So it’s like writing the grant all over again."
The Passamaquoddy Tribe Sipayik Environmental Department told the Maine Morning Star that they plan to appeal the termination. And the University of Maine says it is assessing whether to appeal.
