As PFAS Concerns Grow, More Americans Turn to Blood Testing for Answers
June 11, 2026 | Source: The National News Desk | by Dan Lampariello, Jack Amrock & Nathan Aaron
BENTON, Maine (SOA) — Along River Road in Benton, families are bound by more than geography; they are connected by contamination.
“For a decade or two, my family and I were drinking the water,” Mike Deroche, who’s lived there since the 1980s, said.
That water was later found to contain high levels of PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” linked to a range of health concerns. State officials say the contamination traces back to the once-approved practice or spreading wastewater sludge, or biosolids, on farmland as fertilizer.
“We recognized the fields across the street were being spread, in the 80s and 90s, with a substance other than manure,” Deroche said. “It had quite the odor to it.”