Nearly eight months after the Maine Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife issued a “do not eat” advisory for deer hunted in Fairfield due to the presence of so-called forever chemicals, the department will return to the area.
In the coming weeks, DIF&W will assess deer, wild turkey, and other animals such as grouse, waterfowl, snowshoe hares, and squirrels in an expanded area more than 5 miles from what is ground zero for PFAS contamination in Maine to better assess the level of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS.
Additional wildlife testing, believed to be the most extensive ever conducted in the country, could lead to consumer advisories for other game, or may determine that animals that live farther from sludge spread sites are not are contaminated with PFAS. That information will also help DIF&W determine the need for possible “no eat” warnings as they assess wildlife in up to 20 more locations through the end of the year.
Nate Webb, director of DIF&W’s wildlife division, said the department’s efforts will include more extensive testing of wildlife in and around Fairfield, including as it begins sampling animals at other locations identified as PFAS hotspots. by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Because dealing with PFAS in game and birds is a relatively new field, Maine’s planned trials may be among the largest in the country.
“What we’re planning for this summer, as far as we can tell, is going to be the largest sampling effort ever done for wildlife anywhere,” Webb said. “So we’re really reading and writing the script in a lot of ways.”
Initial sampling in the area included only eight deer, five of which had elevated levels of PFAS. The state responded with a conservative consumer advisory that covered an area that took into account the animals’ normal travel habits.
DIF&W harvested and tested 11 turkeys last spring, but determined that the lower levels of PFAS and the small amount of meat people would eat did not warrant limitations.
“We want to get a better idea of how widespread the problem really is and update that advisory, if warranted, to reflect more and better information,” Webb said. “We will also do limited sampling of other species to see how widespread the problem is between species.”
The biggest concern is how PFAS is affecting humans, rather than what the chemicals might be doing to wildlife and fish. Those studies are likely to come later.
The second, more substantial wildlife sampling in Greater Fairfield will serve as a precursor to upcoming tests at other sites where DEP has found PFAS in soil and groundwater. Webb said DIF&W hopes to test wildlife at another 20 locations through the end of the year.
“A lot of them are in central and southern Maine,” said Webb, who doesn’t yet know which specific sites will be visited.
Testing at the other locations will be more limited in scope, but will be sufficient to establish whether there may be a problem with PFAS in wildlife.
“We’re hopeful that we’re not going to find the same levels of contamination in wildlife elsewhere, but we really don’t know,” Webb said.
Along with its enhanced testing program, DIF&W is in the process of hiring a new staff member. The wildlife health biologist will be responsible for overseeing activities related to PFAS and other contaminants.
“The focus will be on coordinating all of our agency’s efforts on PFAS and wildlife and our hope is that that person will also have time in their work plan to coordinate wildlife disease surveillance, monitoring and management for the agency,” Webb said.
The work was created with funds from the state’s supplemental budget as a result of the discovery of PFAS in deer last fall, he said. In addition to the PFAS study, the new biologist is expected to help DIF&W monitor other wildlife diseases, such as avian influenza, rabies and chronic wasting.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services will once again be in charge of killing and sampling the animals, with some help from DIF&W employees. Webb noted the importance of having the cooperation of local landowners, who have provided access to their property.
“We are not hunting. This is a sampling effort,” Webb said. “We are using different methods and it is not during the regular hunting season. We have to be sensitive to their needs.”
Webb said tissue samples from the collected animals still need to be sent to out-of-state labs for analysis and it will take several weeks for results to be known.
DIF&W hopes to have the results of PFAS tests in the Fairfield area, and hopefully several others, in time to issue the necessary consumption advisories before the regular bow and crossbow hunting season begins in October.