Ranco interviewed by Maine Monitor about PFAS
The Maine Monitor quoted Darren Ranco, professor of anthropology at the University of Maine, in an article about toxic PFAS compounds concentrating over time in landfills near the Penobscot Indian Reservation, which threaten both the health of tribal members and traditions that bound them through millennia to the waterway they know as “pαnawάhpskek.” “Our holy place is not in the Middle East but right here in our watershed. The river is a relation that is in many ways sacred; it’s not an ‘other,’ a resource. We will take care of it to the extent we can. It’s not about ownership; it’s our responsibility.” Ranco said that toxic pollution is “another legacy of harm from colonization,” with the potential risk of PFAS “particularly damaging because it is so difficult to address.” The Bangor Daily News shared the Maine Monitor report.