The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) announced Tuesday that it plans to take legal action against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the agency’s alleged failure to adequately address “forever chemical” contamination.
Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA is required to “identify toxic pollutants in sewage sludge” and “promulgate regulations, based on available information, for identified pollutants if sufficient scientific evidence shows they may harm human health or the environment.”
The nonprofit organization alleges in its Notice of Intent to the EPA that the agency has failed to meet both of these obligations with respect to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS or “forever chemicals.”
Citizen suit clauses give Americans a private right of action against those who violate the law and allows for courts to award plaintiffs declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as impose penalties in some cases.
MOFGA goes on to explain in its Notice of Intent that it will be bringing legal action against the EPA under the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act for allegedly “failing to perform non-discretionary acts or duties.”
Unless the EPA takes “immediate steps” to address this alleged non-compliance within sixty days, MOFGA states that it will be filing a lawsuit against the agency in federal district court to seek both declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as coverage of litigation costs as appropriate.
“[The] EPA’s failure to adequately implement the law allows toxic pollutants into our environment, causing widespread and significant harm to human health and the environment,” MOFGA wrote. “As a result of these two failures, harmful and toxic pollutants continue to be spread on farms, pastures, home gardens, yards and even on wildlands (as soil amendments in forests) where these chemicals then contaminate our nation’s food and water supply.”
“As of January 2024, at least 59 Maine farms, both conventional and organic, have been found to be contaminated with PFAS,” MOFGA continued. “To date, the primary source of this contamination has been traced to the use of biosolids and paper mill sludges, either applied to farmland as soil amendments or ‘disposed of’ by spreading on fields.”
“PFAS contamination has been costly,” MOFGA said. “Some farms have gone out of business. Farm families have been tested and found to have unimaginably high levels of PFAS in their blood.”
“The cost of comprehensively addressing the harm to farmers and the agricultural economy caused by PFAS contamination already exceeds the significant funding Maine recently appropriated,” said MOFGA. “These costs are in addition to the millions of dollars the State is paying to comprehensively investigate PFAS contamination of soils and water and to pay for water filtration for contaminated residential wells.”
“The lack of virtually any federal regulation of this waste to date has caused untold harm to public health and the environment,” MOFGA argued. “EPA must act promptly pursuant to the requirements of the [Clean Water Act] to identify PFAS in sewage sludge, and promulgate regulations to protect human health and the encironment from further PFAS contamination caused by sewage sludge and sludge-derived fertilizer.”
“Moreover,” continued MOFGA, “pending the implementation of regulations to ensure that biosolids are PFAS-free, EPA should ban land application of wastewater sludge biosolids and provide funding for safer disposal options.”
Click Here to Read MOFGA’s Full Notice of Intent
In April of this year, several environmental groups took action against the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) for allegedly failing to do enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Sierra Club, and Maine Youth Action (MYA) are pursuing legal action against these agencies primarily for their failure to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Cars II Program, which would have mandated that 82 percent of new car sales in the state be comprised of zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) by model year 2032.
The Plaintiffs in this case are asking the Cumberland County Superior Court to declare that the State’s decision to reject this mandate was “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion.”
[RELATED: Environmental Groups Sue Maine in Effort to Force Adoption of Controversial EV Mandate]
On April 16, Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a bill into law that made a handful of changes to the state’s first-of-their-kind regulations, requiring that PFAS be removed from the vast majority of products sold in the state by 2032.
For items such as cookware, cosmetics, and upholstered furniture, PFAS must be eliminated by 2026.
By 2040, heating, cooling, and refrigeration equipment being offered for sale in Maine may no longer contain PFAS.
A number of products are explicitly exempted from these requirements, including firefighting foams, federally-regulated medical products, and motor vehicles.
Click Here for More Information on These Changes
