Forever chemicals are hidden in farm soil. Scientists found a new way to remove them

In 2020, just after Winslow and Laura Robinson bought a farm in Maine, they were surprised to learn that sewage sludge had been used as fertilizer there decades earlier—and that the sludge had left behind “forever chemicals” that remained in the soil. Farmers in Maine have been at the forefront of uncovering a problem that exists on farmland across the country. Sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants has been widely used on farms since the 1970s, both to keep it out of landfills and…