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

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-crushing debts, 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 and contaminated 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 ...