Farmer Who Lost All to PFAS Inspires Law to Get Day in Court

摘要

The discovery of so-called forever chemicals on Fred Stone’s Maine dairy farm five years ago destroyed his business, hijacked his retirement plans, and saddled him with now-crushingdebts, while spotlighting the potential for those substances to contaminate the food supply.An ambiguity in Maine law prevented Stone from suing over the sludge containing the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that was spread on his land as fertilizer andcontaminated his cows’ milk to the point he couldn’t sell it. But Stone’s plight helped inspire a law, signed last month by Gov. Janet T. Mills (D), clarifying that legal cases alleging damage orinjury from PFAS can be filed up to six years after the harm was or could reasonably have been discovered.