The Maine House has given initial approval to two bills that expand testing for the "forever chemicals" known as PFAS.
State law already requires landlords in Maine to test for arsenic in private well water every five years. A bill that received initial approval Wednesday in the House would add PFAS to that list as concerns grow in rural Maine about contamination linked to PFAS-laden sludge that was spread as fertilizer on farm fields.
Another provision of the bill, LD 493, would require home sellers to disclose whether their private wells have been tested for the forever chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, kidney disease and other health problems.
Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, said her bill does not require landlords to treat contaminated water but it does increase transparency.
"How the issue is handled is up to the landlord and the tenant and what works for them," Osher said during a House debate on the measure. "But tenants should know what they are drinking. Clean water is a basic human right. Where you live should not determine if you have clean drinking water."
But Republicans largely opposed the bill, viewing it as another regulatory mandate on landlords.
Rep. Mark Blier, R-Buxton, said the $300 cost of testing for PFAS will be added onto the hundreds more that landlords already pay for licensing plus rising property taxes and insurance. And those costs are ultimately passed along to tenants, he said.
"They're all just dripping faucets and pretty soon the sink is full," Blier said. "If your party wants affordable housing, stop raising the rent."
The House also voted to support a separate bill that would require the state to help low-income households pay to test their well water for the chemicals.
Addressing Maine's PFAS crisis has largely drawn bipartisan support in the Maine Legislature because the issue affects both rural and more urban parts of the state.
Short for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, PFAS are a family of chemicals that have been used for decades in a wide range of consumer products. The chemicals are used in to create the high-tech coatings in nonstick cookware, water- and stain-repellent fabrics and grease-resistant food packaging. PFAS have also been used for decades in the firefighting foam used to extinguish burning jet fuel or vehicle fires.
But the durable chemical bonds that make PFAS so useful in consumer products also mean they do not easily break down in the environment or the body. About a decade ago, PFAS began showing up at dangerous levels in the groundwater and crops around farms in Maine that utilized human sludge as fertilizer. Much of that sludge came from treatment plants that received wastewater or sludge from papermills that used PFAS during the manufacturing process.
