Episode 28

Adam and his wife own Songbird Organic Farm, in Unity, Maine which became central to the PFAS deliberations last winter, after they learned that their organic farm was in fact heavily contaminated by PFAS, from historic sludge spreading. With great courage and integrity, they immediately curtailed their food production and spoke up about this growing problem.  This spring (2022) Maine passed a law (LD 1911) that banned the spreading of sludge.  As awareness grows about there being no actual safe level of exposure we have to make other choices about what to do with "bio-solids." 

Adam is now the Campaign Manager for Defend Our Health, working to organize impacted farmers around the state of Maine.  Adam describes the process underway to allocate the $60M PFAS aid package.  (LD2013) The aid will most importantly offer a safety net for impacted farmers, as well as medical monitoring/care and research.  Recently, Senator King introduced a similar bill to support farmers,  at the federal level, called Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act. 

​In the meantime, Adam talks about slowing down, becoming aware of our sense of place, and using the precautionary principle whenever possible, as a way to protect Mama/Mother Earth.

Play audio, below:

Episode 27

Don Kimball was a non-commissioned officer, stationed on Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire from 1977-1981, at a time when they were frequently using a firefighting foam (AFFF),  which we now know to be full of PFAS.  

Today, Don is the producer and host of a radio program called Friendly Fire: A Voice For Veterans where he frequently tackles thorny issues like chemical exposures and toxic PFAS testing for veterans.  

Don participated in the recent PFAS study conducted with former Pease AFB members. The PFAS Exchange can help participants to make sense of their results. A map of  PFAS Contamination of water and military sites in the US demonstrates how far reaching this issue is, particularly on military bases. 
Don recommends people interested in the subject explore two websites: Civilian Exposure and Military Poisons. ​

A member of the Maine Veterans for Peace, Don views social and environmental justice issues in a global context.  Did you know that the number one entity for consuming fossil fuels, thus contributing to global climate change on the planet, is the US Department of Defense?  Don invites interested parties to join an upcoming climate change action in Boston on Nov 16th at 11 AM  to protest Chase Bank's investment in fossil fuels, in solidarity with the COP 27 conference in Egypt. 

Play audio, below:

Episode 24

Kelsey George was in her mid-twenties when she rented an apartment in Hancock County, ME.  There she drank, bathed in, cooked and irrigated with well water that was over the federal limit of 10 ppl with arsenic.  She got sicker and sicker and it took a long time before she realized she should test her well water that was odorless, colorless and tasted normal.  The invisible arsenic was exactly what was making her so ill.

​One in six Mainers who drink well water are exposed to unsafe arsenic levels.  Kelsey strongly advocates for testing well water regularly, to be sure it is safe.

Kelsey George worked with Defend Our Health and testified before the Maine Legislature.  She advocated for the new law that went into effect on January 1, 2022.  Now landlords have to test their residential wells for arsenic levels, and share the results with residents.  This precaution would have protected Kelsey from her toxic arsenic poisoning, had it been in place when she was renting and drinking well water in 2009.  

__________________Resources__________________

Assistance is available: 
Free Well Water Testing for Low Income Mainers
​Maine water testing labs: 
​A list of Accredited Maine Water Testing Labs
Public Water Supply: Maine Tracking Network
Maine Arsenic Video: More information 

Common symptoms of arsenic poisoning:
Skin - red, swollen, irritated, new warts, lesions
Gut - abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting
Heart - abnormal rhythm, disease
Neurological - confusion, numbness
Body - muscle cramps, headaches
Long-term exposures:
 - darkening/ thickening skin
 - constant sore throat
 - persistent digestive issues
 - cancer (bladder, skin, lung, liver, kidney)

Play audio, below:

I first interviewed Kelsey about her arsenic story in 2020, while I studied at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. You can hear that separate feature "To Know Full Well", below. 

Episode 23

​Mindi Messmer is an environmental and public health scientist (Clinical and Translational Science, MS) so other parents reached out to her when local families began experiencing a tragic pediatric cancer cluster in Rye, NH 2014. Her empathy for their terribly scary situations led her to become involved as a local activist, leader, and public servant.

Mindi Messmer was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives (2016-2018) where she worked to protect public health through bills on PFAS, arsenic and lead poisoning prevention. She remains committed to cancer prevention and environmental and drinking water protection.

Mindi is the author of Female Disruptors, Stories of Mighty Female Scientists (2022), which she discusses in this interview. 

Play audio, below:

Episode 22

Corey Hinton is a lawyer at Drummond Woodsum in Portland, ME.  He is the leader of the firm's Tribal Nations Practice Group.  Recently, he represented the Passamaquoddy Tribe in a fight for clean drinking water.  
Maine Legislation LD 906:  Clean Water For Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik was successfully passed and signed into law on April 21, 2022.  After living with unreliable, odorous and toxic drinking water for decades there is finally movement toward several short, medium, and long range solutions.  Regarding toxics in the water supply, he believes we simply must reduce our toxic inputs into the natural world, which benefit only a select few people's short term gains. 

Additionally, Hinton discusses environmental and social justice issues that have been gaining some recent traction.  These ideas are not new, however, as he can reference Maine Legislature notes from the 1870's in which Passamaquoddy leaders were seeking many of the same measures around social justice and respectful environmental stewardship.

FMI:  www.wabinakialliance.org.

Play audio, below:

Episode 19

Jon Swan is the founder of Save Forest Lake in the North Country of New Hampshire.  Save Forest Lake is fighting to preserve the pristine water, air, and soil for future generations by taking on a proposed landfill, challenging setbacks, initiating zoning and getting involved in political decision-making.

Save Forest Lake invites everyone to join them at 10:45 AM on the steps of the capitol building in Concord on September 15th, 2022 (wearing blue for the water) to urge a veto override that would protect their water from becoming polluted by a proposed Casella landfill.

Play audio, below

 Episode 17

Rachael Zoe Miller is an expedition scientist, inventor, National Geographic Explorer and Explorers Club Fellow working to protect the ocean. She is the Founder of Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean, a nonprofit working on the problem of marine debris, co-inventor/CEO of the Cora Ball.

Rachael captained the 60’ sailing research vessel, American Promise. She has lead teams on expeditions whose scientific results are published in peer-reviewed journals and education programs that inspire thousands of people of all ages.

Click for links to related resources:
Clothes Dryers and Microplastics paper,
TED x Lowell talk/video,
Marine debris Data Card used by citizen scientists, 
Microfiber School Activity Handout,
Nat Geo Expeditions and CSI for the Ocean, (Oct 1-24, 2022)  
Sign-up for Ship-to-Shore educational experience.

Instagram handles:
@rachaelzoemiller
@thecoraball
@rozaliaproject

​Play audio, below.

Episode 16

Laurene Allen is a clinical social worker who also became a citizen activist in 2016 when she and her community of Merrimack, NH learned they had been exposed to PFAS in their drinking water for 15-20 years from the Saint-Gobain factory (formerly called Chemfab).  Laurene co-founded Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water as they sorted through the sad realities of what extended exposures mean to public health. 
  
The scope of the problems with PFAS far exceeded her small town and Laurene joined other community leaders around the nation to co-found the National PFAS Contamination Coalition, to help people learn to use the available resources to learn about PFAS and protect themselves, with the support of others who understand and can share their roadmap.  

It is traumatic for communities to learn they have been exposed, and are sick or waiting for worried about getting sick and protecting their loved ones.  Laurene recommends that each household get a reverse osmosis water filter for drinking water, and directs people to these resources:
For stress: ATSDR
For community support and solidarity: NPCC
In the Merrimack area: MCFCW
And on this site's page: WMW Resources

Merrimack's PFAS water contamination story was documented, along with three similar towns, in the 2019 movie called Bad Water. Small Towns. Deaf Ears.  Director Victor Pytko says it's "Everything you need to know about PFAS, but don't know how to ask." Laurene is one of the featured activists in the film.

Play audio, below.