"Dairy farmer Art Schaap had to watch his cows slowly die for over three years before the federal government paid him for the animals — contaminated with toxic “forever chemicals” from a nearby military base.
It was hell for the Clovis, N.M., farmer, who’s been in the business for more than three decades. He now has an empty operation, Highland Dairy, and is still behind with his vendors. In the end, he received about three-fifths of what his cows would be worth now, due to outdated valuations.
And he’s one of the lucky ones.
Elsewhere, farmers are struggling to get reimbursed at all for contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The federal government lacks programs to deal with the toxic chemicals, which are ubiquitous because of their longtime use in products such as nonstick cookware and firefighting foam. They’ve been linked to cancer, weaker immune systems, and other health problems."
Maeve Sheehey and Pat Rizzuto report for Bloomberg Environment October 25, 2022.
