$8 Million to Address PFAS Secured by Senator Collins in Funding Bill

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she secured $8,000,000 for UMaine to address PFAS contamination in the Fiscal Year 2023 Commerce, Justice, and Science as well as the Agriculture appropriations bills. 

The omnibus funding package passed the Senate by a vote of 68-29.  It will now be passed by the House before heading to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“The State of Maine has been at the forefront of efforts to identify and address contamination from PFAS, which are known to be harmful to human health.  Unfortunately, these forever chemicals are increasingly being found in soil, water, animal feed, crops, and livestock, causing substantial harm to the livelihoods of Maine’s family farmers and threatening our water and food supplies,” said Senator Collins.  “I strongly advocated for this funding, which will support UMaine’s research on PFAS that will help protect Maine’s environment and our people.”

"We are grateful for Sen. Collins' support to establish a PFAS Research Center at the University of Maine,” said UMaine Cooperative Extension Dean Hannah Carter. “PFAS is unfortunately a universal issue and Maine is taking a proactive and transparent approach to protect the public. These funds will allow the state's R1 university to be at the forefront in providing testing, public education and outreach, and technical assistance to farms so we can also lead the way to understanding how these chemicals work and mitigating their negative effects on humans, the environment and our agricultural economy."

Details on the two PFAS projects that Senator Collins secured are below:

PFAS Research Center at the University of Maine

Recipient: University of Maine System

Project Location: Orono, Maine

Amount: $5,000,000

Project Purpose: To purchase the equipment needed to set up a PFAS analytical laboratory at the University of Maine, which will serve the monitoring needs of the entire State.

University of Maine PFAS Research Center: Informing Farm Management Decisions

Recipient: University of Maine System

Project Location: Orono, ME

Amount: $3,000,000

Project Purpose: To fund research to help inform short-term management decisions for farms experiencing PFAS contamination.

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