PAT ELDER, pelder@militarypoisons.org
Elder is the founder of the Maryland-based Military Poisons and has written extensitvely on PFAS and other toxins.
See the piece “Roy McGrath, former CEO of Maryland Environmental Services (MES) and Chief of Staff to former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, dead after manhunt.” McGrath was killed by FBI agents in Knoxville, Tennessee this week after becoming a fugitive by failing to appear at a court date. He was indicted in 2021 on accusations of fraud from when he was head of the Maryland Environmental Service. … “McGrath had worked on campaigns with Hogan since 1992. Hogan announced on March 6, a week before McGrath was expected in court, that he was not seeking the U.S. presidency. …
“McGrath led the Maryland Environmental Service, a mysterious, quasi-governmental agency, for three years. MES board members said they felt uneasy about” McGrath’s financial activity but didn’t want to cross Hogan.
Elder has conducted PFAS test results at his home on the St. Mary’s River finding PFAS levels of 2,070 parts per trillion in oysters; 6,650 ppt in crabs, and 23,100 ppt in rockfish. He notes “health officials say we should not be consuming more than 1 ppt daily.” See profile of Elder from the Baltimore Sun: “Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in Maryland water.” Elder charges that the PFAS levels are caused by activity at military bases just nearby, reporting that he has found even higher PFAS levels just near the bases, such as the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
But Elder’s efforts to highlight dangerous PFAS levels have been attacked. For example, the nearby St. Mary’s College dismissed Elder’s concerns — by echoing alleged findings from the corruption-ridden MES. See Elder’s responses to the claims put forward by MES and the College.
Meanwhile Elder lauds Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott for refusing to accept waste from East Palestine. Notes Elder: “Emergency response teams in East Palestine, Ohio used firefighting foams containing PFAS on the burning railroad cars, according to Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Capito said the EPA had been slow to respond to her office’s inquiries on the use of PFAS-based firefighting foams in combating the fire.
“The EPA has so far resisted calls from Ohio’s U.S. senators to test for PFAS.
“Press reports say 581,000 gallons of mostly firefighting foam used to douse the burning train cars and their hazardous materials have been shipped from the site to Vickery Environmental Inc., an Ohio facility located about 150 miles west of East Palestine.”