Support for research on PFAS Tremont was provided in part by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, grant number P30 ES000002, via a pilot project grant from the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health to MDI Biological Laboratory. The Shultz Fund provided additional support.
Tremont Consolidated School had PFAS in its drinking water, like many other schools in Maine (the most recent result before the installation of drinking water filtration was 20.8 ng/L). The Community Environmental Health Laboratory initiated a community project to look at PFAS levels in wells of properties near the school. This project has expanded to include houses throughout Tremont (see timeline below).
This March 2024 map of PFAS at the school and nearby houses provided reference points for additional monitoring and mapping.
Timeline
January 8, 2024
Tremont School received a 20.8 ng/L PFAS test result for its drinking water, which drove the decision to switch to bottled water and investigate a filtration system for the school.
February 1, 2024
Richard Hilliard, an environmental engineer, joined the Community Lab as a postdoctoral research associate to work on the PFAS issue on Mt. Desert Island.
March 20, 2024
Rich Hilliard and Jane Disney from the Community Lab met with the Tremont Town Manager to discuss the PFAS issue in Tremont and offer support for testing residential wells.
March 28, 2024
The Community Environmental Health Lab presented a poster at the Maine Sustainability and Water Conference, “A Community-Engaged Research Approach to Address Impacts of Rural School PFAS Contamination on Neighborhood Wells.”
April 1, 2024
Start date of a Pilot Grant from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to follow up with MDI High School and Tremont PFAS testing efforts.
April 10, 2024
EPA set new limits for PFAS in drinking water. Limits (MCLs): PFOA & PFOS: 4.0 ppt; PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA: 10 ppt; each PFAS mixture: Hazard Index of 1.
April 18, 2024
Met with the Tremont Sustainability Committee at Bass Harbor Library to discuss the current state of knowledge of PFAS contamination in Tremont
May 6, 2024
Rich Hilliard and Jane Disney met with the Tremont Select Board, and the town of Tremont decided to provide funding for 50 Tremont households to be tested for PFAS in drinking water in addition to those samples already being collected by the Community Environmental Health Lab.
June 1, 2024
Davis Family Foundation Grant for “Stemming the Tide of PFAS” project to study PFAS in coastal environments
June 6, 2024
Launch of collaboration with Bigelow Laboratory to study PFAS in coastal environments, including Somes Sound (downstream of MDI High School) and Bass Harbor (downstream of Tremont Consolidated School).
September 4, 2024
Rich Hilliard and Jane Disney met with Tremont Select Board to update Selectman on household monitoring progress.
September 19, 2024
Rich Hilliard and Jane Disney met with the Tremont Sustainability Committee at the Bass Harbor Library to discuss submitting a Research to Action Grant to NIEHS. These grants support “multidisciplinary projects to investigate the potential health risks of environmental exposures of concern to a community and to implement an environmental public health action plan based on research findings.”
January 8, 2025
A public meeting was held at Tremont Consolidated School to discuss the final details of the Research to Action Grant.