Read the full article by Tom Perkins (The Guardian)
“The US may soon bail out farmers whose livelihoods were destroyed by toxic PFAS ‘forever chemical’ contamination.
The proposal for a $500m fund aims to head off a crisis for the nation’s growers and is moving through Congress amid increasing evidence that PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge used as a cheap fertilizer alternative poisoned crops and livestock. Separately, around 4,000 farms nationwide have been contaminated by PFAS from neighboring military bases.
The bipartisan proposal was included in the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill, and the funds could be used to remediate farms, buy out farmers and monitor health – or fund state level testing for the dangerous chemicals.
The bill is modeled off legislation approved unanimously in the Maine legislature, said Sarah Alexander, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.” …