A community based PFAS phytoremediation project at the former Loring Airforce Base

Abstract

Protecting the land is part of the Micmac beliefs. Anything we can do to contribute to making the environment better, we want to be a part of.I heard a specific request/demand from a resident of a PFAS affected town asking scientists to step in, claiming that we were the ones who knew and had the equipment to do something about it. That made me feel powerless and realized that in a way she was speaking to people like me. Unfortunately, analyzing PFAS is complicated and removing them from the environment even more so; scientists do not have all the answers.Also, everyone was an equal player, everyone's voice carried the same weight coming from its unique perspective, and because it's a diverse group it made things much deeper than they otherwise would have been. The Loring Airforce Base (AFB) in Aroostook County, Maine, USA was active from 1947 through 1994. Like many military sites, it has a substantial history of pollution from a wide variety of toxins. Currently, some of the AFB land belongs to the Micmac Nation, an Indigenous tribe, who are very concerned about the contamination on the land. Starting in 2019, a group of community activists, research scientists, and tribal members came together to test methods for cleaning the land. This backstory features perspectives from six project participants. Dr. Sara L. Nason (Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station): The overall goal of our work is to improve the quality of the land on the former Loring AFB, which now belongs to the Aroostook band of the Micmac Nation. Specifically, we are testing the use of fiber hemp plants for phytoremediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are a class of emerging contaminants that are highly toxic at low concentrations and are frequently found on former military bases owing to their use in firefighting foams (Hagstrom et al., 2021Hagstrom A.L. Anastas P. Boissevain A. Borrel A. Deziel N.C. Fenton S.E. Fields C. Fortner J.D. Franceschi-Hofmann N. Frigon R. et al.Yale School of Public Health Symposium: an overview of the challenges and opportunities associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).Sci. Total Environ. 2021; 778: 146192https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146192Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar). They are often called “forever chemicals,” as they are highly resistant to degradation. Part of the land acquired by the Micmac people was formerly used as a firefighting testing area. The US Airforce has detected concerning levels of PFAS in groundwater at this site, but did not conduct any remediation (Baker, 2018Baker P. Site Inspection Report for Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) Areas at Former Loring Air Force Base, Maine. Department of the Air Force, 2018Google Scholar). There are limited technologies available for removing PFAS from soil (Mahinroosta and Senevirathna, 2020Mahinroosta R. Senevirathna L. A review of the emerging treatment technologies for PFAS contaminated soils.J. Environ. Manage. 2020; 255: 109896https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109896Crossref PubMed Scopus (51) Google Scholar). Phytoremediation, although minimally tested for PFAS, is an appealing option due to low costs and the potential for community involvement. Hemp is a large, fast-growing plant that has been reported as an effective remediator for other types of contaminants (Campbell et al., 2002Campbell S. Paquin D. Awaya J.D. Li Q.X. Remediation of benzo[a]pyrene and chrysene-contaminated soil with industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa).Int. J. Phytoremediation. 2002; 4: 157-168https://doi.org/10.1080/15226510208500080Crossref PubMed Scopus (32) Google Scholar; Linger et al., 2002Linger P. Müssig J. Fischer H. Kobert J. Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) growing on heavy metal contaminated soil: fibre quality and phytoremediation potential.Ind. Crops Prod. 2002; 16: 33-42www.elsevier.com/locate/indcropCrossref Scopus (154) Google Scholar; Ahmad et al., 2016Ahmad R. Tehsin Z. Malik S. Asad S. Muhammad S. Shah M. Khan S.A. Phytoremediation potential of hemp (cannabis sativa L.): identification and characterization of heavy metals responsive genes.Clean. Soil Air Water. 2016; 44: 195-201https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201500117Crossref Scopus (48) Google Scholar). Therefore, we set up a series of field tests to assess the potential for hemp to remove PFAS from the soil at Loring AFB. This topic is interesting to me from a research perspective and also fits the interests of community members involved and the goals of the Micmac people. Ms. Chelli J. Stanley (Upland Grassroots): The goals are to learn if fiber hemp can clean PFAS chemicals from soil and to learn what hemp does with the chemicals—where does it store them, does hemp break them down at all—and then use that knowledge to clean polluted soil. We decided to work on PFAS because it was the chemical that best fit everyone's needs. It was within the research interests of the scientists at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) we are working with and has polluted the land that the Micmac Nation are concerned about. We discussed several options like petroleum, pesticides, asbestos and heavy metals and collectively decided to start with PFAS. Although our ultimate goals are the same, each team has different specific short-term goals. The scientists need good samples. Upland Grassroots would like to understand what fiber hemp is doing with the chemicals. People at the Aroostook Band of Micmacs want to know the levels of pollution in different places and if other wild plants are taking up PFAS. Mr. Richard J. Silliboy (Micmac Nation): The Aroostook band of the Micmac tribe worked for many years to gain federal recognition in 1991. We are a tribe of about 1500 people living in Aroostook county, Maine, USA. We are part of the larger Micmac Nation of northeastern North America. There are 30 Micmac reservations in 5 provinces of eastern Canada and one in the United States, which is here in Aroostook County. We received 800 acres from the United States Air Force, which included part of the Loring AFB. The part that we received was supposed to have been cleaned, but there's still a lot of ground there that I believe is contaminated. We need to study that before we can plan to use the property. To start this hemp project, Chelli contacted me and then I recruited people who would be supportive of this project, such as the Chief, and other environmentalists. Ms. Stanley: Upland Grassroots is a grassroots organization that I helped found to find solutions to clean polluted land. I contacted Richard, who was immediately interested in being part of it, as were many others from the Aroostook Band of Micmacs. I contacted CAES after it was recommended by another scientist I was in touch with. We've all been working well together. Both Richard and Fred Corey from the Aroostook Band of Micmacs are on the advisory board of Upland Grassroots. Dr. Nason and Dr. Nubia Zuverza-Mena (CAES): We are research scientists at CAES, which was the first state agricultural experiment station in the United States and is one of the land grant institutions in Connecticut. We both have a background in studying plant interactions with environmental contaminants. Chelli originally contacted our colleague Dr. Jason White, who is now director of CAES, based on his publication history on phytoremediation, and he forwarded the opportunity to us. Our role unraveled as we spoke to Chelli: we would advise on hemp growth, sample handling, and shipping and then analyze plant tissues. We have expertise in the use of different analytical instruments, Sara's strength is the study of organic chemicals, whereas Nubia has more experience in the analysis of inorganic components. Chief E. PeterPaul (Micmac Nation): Protecting the land is part of the Micmac beliefs. Anything we can do to contribute to making the environment better, we want to be a part of. That's what sustainability is—if you don't have anything to sustain, then we're going to be in trouble, so we need to make every effort to practice it. We want to be sovereign, and keeping our sovereignty means protecting the earth. Everything from the air quality to the water quality is impacted by the soil, so any help we can bring, we want to do that. Mr. Silliboy: Having the earth as clean as possible is the job of all Native Americans. It is our job to take care of Mother Earth, and it is a very difficult job for all the tribes to do this because there is so much contamination that's being put into the ground. The ground is being abused in many ways by companies that dump waste all over the place. It's very concerning to tribes across the country, and it's up to Native Americans to take care of Mother Earth. That is our goal and always has been and always will be. Ms. Stanley: I am involved because I want to push for solutions that can be passed down to the people of the future, who will definitely need them. I have a relationship with water, land, and nature, and want to repay my debt of gratitude. Doing this work is one way I can do it. Ms. Maggie F. Blumenthal (Upland Grassroots): I decided to participate in this project because I have a huge passion for soil health as well as community and land restoration. This project has really helped me see the reality of many farmlands and spaces in the state of Maine that have been contaminated with these forever chemicals (PFAS). Dr. Zuverza-Mena: There are not many times when scientists participate directly with a community. I had been involved in phytoremediation research, but never actually conducted field work on the topic. This was an attractive opportunity to engage in a community-based research project. I became aware of the issues with PFAS in 2018 and started studying the science behind them as well as reviewing online records of city meetings with PFAS on their agendas. I heard a specific request/demand from a resident of a PFAS-affected town asking scientists to step in, claiming that we were the ones who knew and had the equipment to do something about it. That made me feel powerless and realize that in a way she was speaking to people like me. Unfortunately, analyzing PFAS is complicated, and removing them from the environment even more so; scientists do not have all the answers. Dr. Nason: When Chelli reached out in early 2019, I had just accepted my job offer from CAES. I knew that PFAS was a research topic that I wanted to get into, and this seemed like an interesting and meaningful opportunity to both help the Micmac community and dive into a new research area. I went into environmental science to help protect the earth and its citizens, and this project puts those values into action. My PhD work focused on plant uptake of pharmaceutical contaminants, so it was a relatively small jump to start working on PFAS phytoremediation. Additionally, new researchers at CAES typically start out working alone, so this was a great chance for me to have a team-based project right away. Dr. Nason and Dr. Zuverza-Mena: Field studies are complicated, and we worked closely with Upland Grassroots to develop a plan for soil sample collection and hemp planting that could result in scientifically useful data. We have not had the opportunity to visit the field site or meet with the rest of the team in person, so we focused heavily on clear communication and straightforward organization. We talked about the importance of field blanks and controls and using only materials that are unlikely to introduce additional PFAS to the samples. We ended up using a grid pattern for sampling and limiting the field plots to 9 m squares, which has been both manageable and successful. We relied on Chelli as our contact person to ensure that the field site was managed as we planned. We all learned together for this project. Dr. Nason: The primary contaminant at the study site is PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid), which we have found at up to 150 ppb in the soil, but many other PFAS are present as well. We have a publication out that focuses on analysis of soil from the site, where we identified over 70 total PFAS, but we also determined that that the PFAS levels at the site are highly variable (Nason et al., 2020Nason S.L. Koelmel J. Zuverza-Mena N. Stanley C. Tamez C. Bowden J.A. Godri Pollitt K.J. Software comparison for nontargeted analysis of PFAS in AFFF-contaminated soil.J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2020; https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.0c00261Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar). This variability limits the quality of our phytoremediation data, but in our 2020 field test, PFOS soil concentrations decreased in both hemp growth plots. Earlier data from 2019 showed that several PFAS were accumulated in hemp tissue, and that the shorter-chain compounds showed greater bioaccumulation than long chain, similar to what has been reported in other literature (Ghisi et al., 2019Ghisi R. Vamerali T. Manzetti S. Accumulation of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural plants: a review.Environ. Res. 2019; 169: 326-341https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.10.023Crossref PubMed Scopus (151) Google Scholar). These data have been presented at several conferences but have not yet been published. Personally, this project was my introduction to research on PFAS. We began in the spring of 2019, and I learned a lot about analysis methods very quickly. Later in 2019 when Connecticut Governor Lamont established a statewide PFAS Taskforce, I was one of the only state employees with experience measuring these contaminants. I served on two taskforce committees and was able to provide helpful information about how PFAS measurements could fit in with the broader statewide plan for dealing with PFAS. I met several other scientists via the taskforce, who I now have active collaborations with. So far, we have four publications related to PFAS (Koelmel et al., 2020Koelmel J.P. Paige M.K. Aristizabal-Henao J.J. Robey N.M. Nason S.L. Stelben P.J. Li Y. Kroeger N.M. Napolitano M.P. Savvaides T. et al.Towards comprehensive per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances annotation using FluoroMatch software and intelligent high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry acquisition.Anal. Chem. 2020; 92: 11186-11194https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c01591Crossref PubMed Scopus (11) Google Scholar, Koelmel et al., 2021Koelmel J.P. Stelben P. McDonough C.A. Dukes D.A. Aristizabal-Henao J.J. Nason S.L. Li Y. Sternberg S. Lin E. Beckmann M. et al.FluoroMatch 2.0 – making automated and comprehensive non-targeted PFAS annotation a reality.Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2021; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03392-7Crossref PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar; Nason et al., 2020Nason S.L. Koelmel J. Zuverza-Mena N. Stanley C. Tamez C. Bowden J.A. Godri Pollitt K.J. Software comparison for nontargeted analysis of PFAS in AFFF-contaminated soil.J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2020; https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.0c00261Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar; Hagstrom et al., 2021Hagstrom A.L. Anastas P. Boissevain A. Borrel A. Deziel N.C. Fenton S.E. Fields C. Fortner J.D. Franceschi-Hofmann N. Frigon R. et al.Yale School of Public Health Symposium: an overview of the challenges and opportunities associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).Sci. Total Environ. 2021; 778: 146192https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146192Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar) and two funded grant proposals, with more in progress! My work on this collaborative community project kick started all these additional activities. I am grateful to have learned so much. Dr. Zuverza-Mena: We analyzed soil from Loring AFB for 25 elements, which included heavy metals (e.g., Ca, Cu, Fe, Ag, As, Cd, Pb, Ce, Se). We compared our measurements to reference levels reported by agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the United States Geological Survey, although we would need more time and resources to fully determine if the levels of each element are of concern or not. Most concentrations were within levels typically found in natural soils, although in some we could not find specific of what are As, Cd, and levels were in our site but when compared with the soil in our Connecticut the Loring soil had of and heavy metals Ca, Cu, Fe, and We our with Upland Grassroots and the Micmac but they are not published. Ms. Stanley and Ms. of was a huge our first years on this project. The does not to use the or ground water at Loring because it is so That has made it to up the project because we have to water to water the This is a to be for doing phytoremediation because if the soil is the water will be contaminated We are to ways to this and will Chief The I see is the of not being able to do this on a that's to make a the of the research, that's my that we don't get to all this and don't get to see where it is that we know there's a of I want to see what that something Dr. Nason: This project a lot of difficult fully have from field studies with and taking PFAS that are fully clean is a To have a phytoremediation we need more soil and plant to more assess the variability at the site, as well as additional and samples. It would be if we were able to have a scientist on site and We had for this so was not even before the The other has been with am involved in many and it has been difficult to out time for this and interesting work would be if we had to a to help with sample Dr. Zuverza-Mena: this project we many challenges working with PFAS field samples. PFAS are in the we with site which be soil samples. It was to because Sara and I were also how to PFAS samples. We were to be working with who and knew how to specific CAES I had started to work on PFAS before this we had the resources to make such but our were not well to with PFAS, which was a It was not Sara came on board that we started our instruments, which to be for PFAS Chief I like that we get to These types of are good for everyone There are always things that out of it like to work together and and the to do these types of We get to do a lot of things with a lot of different and when you do with it's something that will be there This is a and the people involved are going to be part of Micmac Ms. Stanley: I good communication is the communication to make everyone has what they need is everyone was an equal player, everyone's voice carried the same weight coming from its unique perspective, and because it's a diverse group it made things much deeper than they otherwise would have been. Ms. on this project made me what small of people and are of and the that can from community researchers into an as this can result in data or that don't actually help many of the people the research be based I community members and to within their is the best way to have that can help on the My would be to always the in every step of research project. That way you will know what is for that not all are and it is to have to make project as as Nason and Zuverza-Mena: on this project has to always in the of our work and helped to improve the way we with and people the community. Our would be to not what can be through can be effective in the Additionally, we the importance of a plan for and for all of the project. We had a great team in the but we have into more on the analysis of which has limited the we can Nason and Zuverza-Mena: on this project has been both interesting and very like this would be with more for We are that our our in a wide variety of project This project made about being and for our at a and to to the of our Chief The potential for this project is very It's such an project to be a part of. This is just the in the of what can be with this land that the United States has not been to with for one or do we this other chemicals can hemp from the we help make it a hemp growth in Silliboy and Blumenthal the hemp Stanley at the hemp Nason in the

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