DoomsdaysCW<p>'This is our best option:' <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Maine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Maine</span></a> farmers turn to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SolarEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SolarEnergy</span></a> due to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/contaminated" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>contaminated</span></a> fields</p><p>Story by Brad Rogers<br>7/25/2024</p><p>ARUNDEL (WGME) – "<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PFAS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PFAS</span></a>, also known as forever chemicals, have been nothing short of disastrous for hundreds of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mainefarmers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mainefarmers</span></a>.</p><p>"It's ruined their land, made their cattle, milk and eggs unsafe to eat and left many farmers with serious health problems.</p><p>"'This farm has been in our family since 1914,' <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FredStone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FredStone</span></a>, whose <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Arundel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arundel</span></a> farm was contaminated with PFAS, said.</p><p>"Stone was a third-generation dairy farmer in Arundel until forever chemicals were discovered in his fields, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WellWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WellWater</span></a>, cows and milk.</p><p>"The pollution came from spreading <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/wastewater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>wastewater</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/sludge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sludge</span></a> on his farm after the state told him it was safe.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MaineDEP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MaineDEP</span></a> has identified more than 500 sites where sludge was applied to farmland as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/fertilizer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fertilizer</span></a>.</p><p>"In 2017, Stone was the first farmer in the state to have his dairy farm and his pasture shut down due to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PFAScontamination" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PFAScontamination</span></a>.</p><p>"To make up for it, the state offered to buy his farm, but he refused to walk away.</p><p>"'We’re not in the farm selling or land selling business,' Stone said. 'Given what options we had left, that brought us to the solar thing.'</p><p>"He's been working with <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaldenRenewables" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaldenRenewables</span></a> to build a solar array on 100 acres of his contaminated farm.</p><p>"'It's their best alternative, but for some of these landowners, it's hard to kind of accept the change that they're facing,' Dale Knapp of Walden Renewables said. 'This is an injection of revenue that they desperately need.'</p><p>"This week, the Maine Public Utilities Commission [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MainePUC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MainePUC</span></a>] approved new rules, paving the way for solar development on PFAS-polluted farms.</p><p>"'The Act provides that the commission must give a primary preference to projects that are located on contaminated lands,' Carrie Gilbert of the Maine PUC Commission said.</p><p>"'This is our best option,' Stone said. 'So reluctantly, very reluctantly I guess, that’s what we ended up having to do.'</p><p>"Stone plans to sign a 30-year lease for the solar array.</p><p>"After that, his farm may still be contaminated with forever chemicals, but 30 years is a long time for someone to come up with a solution.</p><p>"'That might mean that generational farm just goes on pause,' Knapp said. 'And the next generation may have the opportunity to return it to being a family farm someday.'</p><p>"'I’m very bitter,' Stone said. 'This is not the way we wanted to see this go. Yeah, I would love to see it continue on as a farm of some kind but damn the state of Maine for putting me in this position.'"</p><p><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/this-is-our-best-option-maine-farmers-turn-to-solar-energy-due-to-contaminated-fields/ar-BB1qDAus" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">msn.com/en-us/news/us/this-is-</span><span class="invisible">our-best-option-maine-farmers-turn-to-solar-energy-due-to-contaminated-fields/ar-BB1qDAus</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MaineFarms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MaineFarms</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SolarFarms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SolarFarms</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ContaminatedFarmland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ContaminatedFarmland</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Reuse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Reuse</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SolarFarm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SolarFarm</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RenewablesNow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RenewablesNow</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RenewableEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RenewableEnergy</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PFOA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PFOA</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PFOS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PFOS</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PFASContamination" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PFASContamination</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterPollution</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PFASPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PFASPollution</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PTFE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PTFE</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Wildlife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wildlife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Cancer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cancer</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Contamination" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Contamination</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Chemicals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Chemicals</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Environment</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GenXChemicals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GenXChemicals</span></a></p>