Trail of ‘forever chemicals’ leads to Maine paper mills

The manufacturing industry, which has used PFAS for decades, faces a reckoning as the state grapples with soil and water contamination. Huhtamaki’s paper mill in Waterville is the largest single contributor of wastewater to the Kennebec Sanitary Treatment District plant that was licensed to spread treated sludge on farm fields in Fairfield, Unity, Benton and other towns. Testing to date has discovered 164 PFAS-contaminated wells in Fairfield, Unity, Benton and Oakland.