$8 Million to Address PFAS Secured by Senator Collins in Funding Bill in First Key Step
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 the University of Maine to address PFAS contamination in the draft Fiscal Year 2023 Commerce, Justice, and Science as well as the Agriculture appropriations bills. The bills, which were officially released by the full Senate Appropriations Committee today, must still be voted upon by the full Senate and House.
“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. As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”
"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 requested are below:
PFAS Research Center at the University of Maine
Recipient: University of Maine System
Project Location: Orono, Maine
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Purpose: To purchase the equipment needed to set up a PFAS analytical laboratory at the University of Maine, which would 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 Requested: $3,000,000
Project Purpose: To fund research to help inform short-term management decisions for farms experiencing PFAS contamination.
