The University of Maine System could receive $8 million in federal funding for research into so-called "forever chemicals" in the state.
The spending bill, which passed the U.S. Senate on Thursday and the House on Friday, includes $5 million for a new PFAS research center at the University of Maine, and $3 million for research to assist farms dealing with PFAS contamination.
Hannah Carter, the Dean of the UMaine Cooperative Extension, says the new center will help researchers answer major questions about the chemicals and help farmers determine what animals and plants they can raise on PFAS-contaminated lands.
"Because farmers want to farm their lands. They don't want it to sit there. And we want them to be able to do that," she says. "Some of that is, we've got to figure out what happens with PFAS uptake into a plant. And I think that's the most urgent research, to me, that can happen."
Maine lawmakers voted to set aside $60 million in state funds earlier this year to help farmers impacted by PFAS contamination.
