Educational Webinar: PFAS, Sewage Sludge, & Farmlands

Before joining Potomac Riverkeeper Network, Flores served as a regional director at the Sierra Club supporting energy campaigns and chapters in Mid-Atlantic and Central Appalachian states. He previously worked at Blue Water Baltimore in its Waterkeeper program, leading development of research and advocacy programming on water quality and pollution monitoring, regulation of stormwater, sewage, and industrial pollution, and enforcement of state and federal clean water law. After serving as Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, David joined the Center for Progressive Reform and continued work in policy research and regulatory advocacy focused on industrial stormwater, chemical disaster, cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay, and climate adaptation for regulation of water pollution. David earned a J.D. with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law, graduating with the Certificate of Concentration in Environmental Law and the Public Service Award. He holds a B.A. in environmental science from Bard College.

Adam worked for eleven years as an organic vegetable and grain farmer as the co-owner/manager of Songbird Farm in Unity, Maine. The farm focused on local markets, heritage grains and community involvement as pathways to strengthen a sense of place and history. Nordell feels that the local food movement gives people a direct, tangible stake in the health of their local ecosystems. In late 2021, Adam and his wife Johanna discovered severe PFAS chemical contamination of their land, drinking & irrigation water and their bodies. The discovery led to an immediate, voluntary closure of farm operations and launched Adam into an advocacy role, fighting for impacted communities and against continued contamination. He is excited to continue this work as part of the Defend Our Health team, where he will be organizing with people impacted by PFAS and advocating for a responsible, impactful allocation of state resources to support those communities. Adam has a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic. When he is not thinking about industrial chemical contamination, Adam can be found singing lonesome ballads with Johanna, exploring the Maine coast and hill country or looking for salamanders with his son Lulu.

Bill Pluecker has been farming commercially since 2005. During most of those years his operation was certified organic and operated a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program partnered with the Maine Harvest Bucks. He currently runs Begin Again Farm, a small vegetable operation selling primarily wholesale to local groceries and the Mainers Feeding Mainers program. Bill has served in the Maine Legislature since 2018. He represents House District 44 (the towns of Hope, Union and Warren) and serves as House Chair of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. He has two kids of whom he is very proud.

Bill works to engage and energize the MOFGA community to take action to support clean soil and water, with emphasis on addressing PFAS contamination of farmland and building awareness and advocacy on this topic across the country. Helping to leverage MOFGA’s broad political power, Bill develops our advocacy communication channels and ensures that members understand priorities in MOFGA’s policy platform.

David Sligh has worked for 35 years to make the promises of our environmental laws real. He has consistently and successfully pushed private parties and government agencies to base their actions on science, law, and the public interest. He has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia, a law degree from Vermont Law School, and is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Dave has worked as a Senior Environmental Engineer for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Founder and Director of Virginia PEER – the state branch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Southeast Regional Representative for American Rivers, Upper James Riverkeeper, adjunct instructor of Environmental Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and as a consultant and advisor to citizen groups around the country.