By Michael Shepherd - May 17, 2022
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Good morning from Augusta. There are 28 days until Maine's June primaries.

What we're watching today

Maine is preparing legal action against manufacturers of chemicals increasingly being found in farmland and water. It was not the kind of announcement we expected at the Maine Democratic Party's convention in Bangor, but Attorney General Aaron Frey told the Bangor crowd on Saturday that his office is working with the administration of Gov. Janet Mills on a lawsuit to hold manufacturers of so-called forever chemicals "to account."

Few details were released by Frey's office on Monday, but the attorney general's announcement signifies progress after the state began soliciting bids from law firms to do the work. The office almost never uses outside lawyers, making that move notable in its own right. The last time it happened was during the landmark multistate tobacco settlement inked in 1998. Outside lawyers have not been picked yet and it is not clear exactly what the state will file.

The tobacco settlement was a huge boon for Maine, still sending $46 million here every year. Not all of big settlements have paid out as much. Maine will get $130 million over 18 years from a huge opioid settlement inked this year. But such a lawsuit could ramp up the state's response to chemicals that have shut Maine farms down in the last few years and are the subject of a state testing effort in places thought to have been the sites of sludge spreading.

The question of accountability is an interesting one. A class-action lawsuit filed last year targeted the Sappi mill in Skowhegan and the Huhtamaki plant in Waterville after plaintiffs in Fairfield found exceedingly high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, in their well water. The chemicals are used in consumer products and have gotten into the environment in different ways, including the application of wastewater sludge from mills and municipal utilities on agricultural land. Sappi has disputed its alleged role.

The state's work could run alongside that. States with large chemical plants have gone further up the chain. Illinois sued the manufacturing giant 3M in April for contamination around one of its facilities. Both 3M and DuPont have been targeted by other state and local governments over the past four years.

Results are a long time coming, though. Minnesota sued 3M in 2010 and an $850 million settlement was inked in 2018 in the third-largest natural resources recovery in national history, The Star Tribune reported. The state only finalized its plan to use the money in 2021. We are only at the beginning of the beginning of a long process.

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Campaign news and notes

— Mills came out of the Democratic convention in campaign mode, doing a downtown walk in Bath with Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, on Monday. The governor is scheduled for similar stops this afternoon in Brunswick with Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, starting at Moderation Brewing Company, which is co-owned by Daughtry. These are technically official and not campaign events, but the line is always blurry for an incumbent this time of year.

— With just under a month to go until the June 14 special election, we have crossed the six-figure mark in outside spending on the open Maine Senate race in Hancock County between former Sen. Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth, and Rep. Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth. Of the nearly $102,000 spent so far, $66,000 has come from Senate Democrats' campaign arm, $31,000 from its Republican counterpart and $5,000 from Planned Parenthood's campaign arm. Keep in mind that the winner of this election is unlikely to even cast a vote this year. The two candidates will also run against each other in the November election.

BDN writer Jessica Piper contributed to this item.

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What we're reading

— Maine's new housing law may take a while to boost supply, but local officials praised it for loosening rules on accessory units and new anti-discrimination protections. Read our coverage of the housing market.

— The town of Passadumkeag is effectively shut down after the town clerk resigned because selectmen refused to grant her a two-week vacation.

— Six Maine veterans have joined a national lawsuit against 3M that alleges earplugs supplied to the military were defective and caused hearing loss.

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Photo of the day

Phil Moon casts into the Androscoggin River in Lewiston as he starts his days off from work, Monday, May 16, 2022. Alyssa Jones and Reid Maxim keep an eye on their lines behind him. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn via AP)

📷 Lead photo: Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey waves to legislators on Dec. 2, 2020 at the Augusta Civic Center. (BDN photo by Linda Coan-O'Kresik)

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