The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land.
Tony and Karen Coleman stand over a plot of land where they buried a deceased calf and bull on their property in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024. JOHNSON COUNTY — Tony Coleman recognizes the signs all too well. A cow drools strings of saliva. Then it starts to limp, each step slower. Then it grows stiff.Since early 2023, the Grandview rancher has watched more than 35 of his 150
“It's hard for me to tell her, because I know she's gonna break down,” he said. “Why are our animals dying? Just back to back? It never ends.” The fertilizer had been made with biosolids, part of an effort to find a climate-friendly method to recycle municipal sewage. But the fertilizer also contained synthetic and highly hazardous chemicals known as PFAS, which are found in hundreds of household products and have had devastating effects on farms and ranches that inadvertently spread them on their land.
But nobody knows how much of that fertilizer is contaminated with PFAS, which can be absorbed by crops, consumed by livestock, and then enter the food supply. There are no requirements to test biosolids for PFAS, or to warn farmers and ranchers that they could be using contaminated fertilizer made with biosolids on their land.
Tony Coleman took over the farm in 2018 after his wife’s father died from liver cancer. Karen Coleman said the farm doesn't feel the same anymore — the PFAS contamination has cast a shadow over it. If they sold cattle now, she said, it would feel like a betrayal of her father's memory. “We believe in Jesus. And at the end of my time, when I have to stand in front of Jesus and I get to see my dad again, I have to answer for the decisions that we're making right now,” she said.
The tissue from a calf belonging to Farmer that died a week after being born tested at 320 ppt of PFOS. “The amount of beef and milk that’s gone into the food chain, who knows what their PFAS levels are? The level of victimization is widespread,” he added. “The data strongly suggests that the farm where biosolids were used could not be a source for the PFAS allegedly found on the plaintiffs’ farms,” Cleverley said.In a separate lawsuit filed against the EPA in June by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on behalf of the farmers, the group claimed the agency failed to implement restrictions on PFAS in biosolids despite knowing the health risks posed by the chemicals. Johnson County later joined the suit.
Gugliuzza added the city had tested some of its biosolids for PFAS even though it’s not required. Those results showed PFAS in the biosolids, but Gugliuzza said that’s the case at wastewater facilities across the country. In Texas, most biosolids end up in a landfill. But the rest is diverted for agricultural use in Texas.
Adam Krantz, the CEO of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, a group representing municipal wastewater treatment agencies, said the cost of remediation could be passed down to water utility customers, but argues that"polluters should pay."“It really is the corporate polluter that needs to foot the bill for this as the wrongdoer,” he said.
“I lay awake at night thinking of the magnitude of this whole deal. It’s just crazy,” Woolley said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. I think there's gonna be so much public outcry on this … it's gonna be hard for our state officials to ignore that.” So far, there have been no bills filed by state lawmakers regarding PFAS contamination in biosolids ahead of the legislative session that begins in January.
Texas Politics Texas Policy Texas Government Environment Agriculture State Government Texas Commission On Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Johnson County
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