On July 10, the Telegram published an article speaking to the rising costs for landfilling municipal sludge rather than spreading it on land (“Latest sticker shock from PFAS: Rising sewer rates,” Page A1). However, it inappropriately implies that bills passed this year to protect state-owned landfill capacity from toxic out-of-state waste and to protect our farmland from further care are to blame for the looming costs to homeowners.

The real culprit for these increased costs is the same culprit that manufactured these chemicals knowing that they were having catastrophic impacts on human health – companies like 3M and DuPont. These bills are protecting our health from the cost these chemicals would have on our bodies, our environment and our communities. Now more than ever, when there are costs associated with PFAS treatment and cleanup that have been passed on to homeowners, we need to be putting blame where blame is due, and make polluters pay.

Bill Lippincott
chair, Don’t Waste Maine
Hampden