New England states Maine and Vermont are now taking further action against the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers, especially the use of “bio-solids” – a shifty name for repurposed sewage sludge/waste and excrement, that can in fact contain cremated human remains in them.
This repurposed sewage slime contains many of these “forever chemicals” that are known to be cancerous, and cause a slew of other health issues.
This is following a continued trend by some other states in the U.S., along with the Biden administration’s decision to ban other harmful substances last year.
EPA Finally Bans A Known Brain-Damaging Pesticide Sprayed On Our Food: Chlorpyrifos
The following excerpts are from The Hill:
In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed into law on Wednesday a bill that will ban the application of biosolids — also known as “sludge” — that contain so-called forever chemicals on farmland.
In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott (R) approved a bill the next day enabling plaintiffs to sue for medical monitoring following exposure to toxins, including these compounds.
Forever chemicals — or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — are an umbrella group for thousands of compounds known for their ability to linger in the human body and the environment. PFAS are linked to kidney cancer, thyroid disease, testicular cancer and other illnesses.
Most notorious for their presence in jet-fuel firefighting foam and industrial discharge, PFAS are also key ingredients in a variety of common products like biosolids used on farms, nonstick pans and cosmetics.
PFAS-laden biosolids have been a widespread source of contamination on agricultural land across Maine, leading several farmers to close shop after finding that their milk was tainted by the compounds, as The Hill reported. Such sludge is usually a product of paper mills.
What we’re seeing is our farmers are going out of business.
Not only is their land and water contaminated, but their bodies, their blood, their children are contaminated. And if we want to keep food supply in the state of Maine that’s healthy and locally based, then we need to take action now to keep the sludge off our fields and the PFAS out of our food.
Assemblyman Bill Pluecker (I), the bill’s co-sponsor and an organic farmer by trade, told The Hill.
Wednesday’s new law will prevent residents from spreading sludge to farmlands unless they receive “written determination” from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection that the sludge is PFAS-free, according to the bill.
The prohibitions will also apply to fertilizers, soil or topsoil replacements used for similar agricultural purposes that are derived from or contain sludge.
The bill tasks the Department of Environmental Protection with developing a plan for fulfilling the prohibition of sludge application — granting the agency until January 15, 2023 to submit a follow-up report to the state legislature.
While some critics of the bill have questioned where the sludge will go instead, Pluecker stressed that Maine has designated space for such substances in its own landfills. The state has also stopped taking waste from its neighbors, he added.
Pluecker described the new law as “a win for Maine’s farmers” and for the state in general, which has also been encountering PFAS contamination in its fish and deer.
Really we’re taking the lead, across the country, in addressing PFAS issues for our food and for our water.
In neighboring Vermont, the bill signed by Scott enables plaintiffs to sue polluters for medical screenings following exposure to toxic substances, including PFAS.
The new bill, which goes into effect on July 1, changes the threshold that people harmed by toxic pollution must meet to be awarded medical monitoring damages in court, explained Jon Groveman, policy and water program director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council.
This final iteration of the bill provides victims of toxic pollution with a fair opportunity to seek medical monitoring costs and, for the first time in the nation, places this right into statute, which will help hold toxic polluters accountable.
Jon Groveman, policy and water program director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
[1] Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! [2] She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.Zephaniah 3:1-2
This move is a doubled-edged sword. Obviously I am vehemently against all these toxic chemicals, pollution, and cannibalistic sludges; but we must ask, why now? I suppose beggars can’t be choosers, but we must understand why the state and federal governments are now putting bans on these chemicals. They have known for a VERY long time that they were toxic, so why now in recent times are we seeing these bans?
If you have been following The WinePress reports on the current fallout from all these manufactured supply chain shortages and restrictions against Russia, I have also covered some of these new bans on these chemicals. What this will do is only make the supply chains even worse, and generating even more food shortages and more famine. Now, if you have been budgeting for and eating higher quality goods, then this will not affect you as much, but the broad masses, who abhor health, will really start to feel the crunch going forward.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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