Press Conference on Maine PFAS Legislation

View the media statement that IATP Senior Attorney Sharon Treat delivered during the press conference here. 

Legislators, advocates, and public health experts will brief the press on seven bills being introduced to Maine’s 130th Legislature related to health-harming toxic chemicals known as PFAS that are currently making headlines in Maine and nationwide. These bills would implement and strengthen key recommendations from the Maine governor’s PFAS Task Force Report issued in January 2020 around drinking water, use of PFAS in products and contamination of farm land. This press briefing is organized by Defend Our Health, a nonprofit public health organization working to create a world where all people are thriving, with equal access to safe food and drinking water, healthy homes, and products that are toxic-free and climate-friendly.

IATP's Senior Attorney Sharon Treat will be one of several speakers during the press conference, and she will focus her remarks on agriculture-related PFAS legislation and issues. IATP's prior testimony, comments and articles on Maine PFAS issues are all posted on IATP's PFAS page.

Additional speakers will include: 

• Representative Lori Gramlich, MSW (D-Old Orchard Beach), who is introducing legislation addressing PFAS in products, firefighting foam, and requiring testing of contaminated farm land. 
• Representative William Pluecker (I-Warren), who is introducing legislation to set strict drinking water standards for PFAS. 
• Courtney Schusheim, a Trenton, Maine resident whose children’s school was found with water containing PFAS levels that would be illegal in nearby states but were acceptable to Maine officials. 
• Lani Graham, MD, MPH, former director of the Maine Bureau of Health, retired family physician, and member of the Governor’s PFAS Task Force. 
• Sarah Woodbury, Director of Advocacy at Defend Our Health. 

If you are a member of the press and interested in attending, please register here. A recording of the webinar will be made available to media afterwards upon request.