AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Senate approved two proposals Thursday to require landlords to test private drinking water wells for “forever chemicals” and provide state-funded testing for low-income households.
Each measure ties into Maine’s broader efforts to deal with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals linked to cancers and other negative health outcomes. Maine has felt the effects of PFAS contamination in land and water stemming from wastewater sludge that was commonly used as fertilizer and the use of the chemicals in consumer products.
The chemicals have also been thrust into national disputes, with President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency cutting this month millions in research funding that Native American tribes and the University of Maine used to study reducing PFAS in plants and animals.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are continuing to try to tackle the PFAS issue. The Senate passed Thursday a bill from Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, that would expand existing requirements for arsenic testing by requiring landlords of residential buildings to test private drinking water wells every five years for the presence of PFAS. The body then OKed a bill from Rep. Bill Pluecker, I-Warren, requiring the state to pay for PFAS testing in well water for low-income households.
The Senate passed each measure mostly along party lines, with Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford the lone Republican to join Democrats in backing each proposal. The Maine House of Representative also took largely party-line votes Wednesday to pass each bill. They need additional votes in each chamber before going to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat.
Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-Arundel, noted Thursday that more than 50 percent of Mainers get their drinking water from private wells, the highest percentage in the country. Landlords would have to provide tenants with the PFAS results within 10 days of receiving them but would not be required to pay for any treatment, he said.
Lawmakers and Mills will also have to decide on funding each proposal amid a tight state budget environment. Osher’s bill requests nearly $123,000 this year and about $111,500 next fiscal year for implementing it and providing education and outreach to landlords and tenants. Pluecker’s bill seeks roughly $218,000 through 2027 for outreach to low-income residents about the free testing and $40,000 annually starting next year for the free PFAS testing. Similar allocations will be required in 2028 and 2029 to pay for each measure.
The Mills administration testified neither for nor against the landlord-focused measure that it said would cost $285 to $450 to test each private well while opposing Pluecker’s effort to cover PFAS testing for low-income households. Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Puthiery Va said “significant human and financial resources” would be needed.
Va suggested other options could include continuing the state’s efforts to identify PFAS in wells in “high-risk areas for contamination” or to seek lower-cost PFAS treatment options that other states such as Colorado are also evaluating.
Ingwersen, whose family lives on a farm in Arundel, said increasing access to PFAS testing is “critical to maintaining the health and wellness of all Mainers,” adding that low-income and tribal communities along with children are particularly vulnerable to contamination.
“Where you live should not determine the toxins that you are exposed to,” Ingwersen said.
