A Texas county is taking steps to declare a state of emergency and search federal help over farmland contaminated with dangerous “ceaselessly chemical compounds,” as considerations develop over the protection of fertilizer created from sewage.
Johnson County, south of Fort Price, has been roiled since county investigators discovered excessive ranges of chemical compounds referred to as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, at two cattle ranches within the county in 2023.
The county says the PFAS, also referred to as ceaselessly chemical compounds as a result of they don’t break down within the setting, got here from contaminated fertilizer used on a neighboring farm. That fertilizer was made out of handled sewage from Fort Price’s wastewater remedy plant. A New York Occasions investigation into using contaminated sewage sludge as fertilizer targeted partly on the expertise of ranchers in Johnson County.
PFAS, which is utilized in on a regular basis objects like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets, has been discovered to extend the danger of sure forms of most cancers, and may trigger delivery defects, developmental delays in kids, and different well being harms.
County commissioners handed a decision this week calling on Texas governor Greg Abbott to affix the declaration, and search federal catastrophe help.
“That is uncharted territory,” stated Larry Woolley, one of many county’s 4 commissioners, in an interview. The funds, he stated, could be put towards testing and monitoring of consuming water, cleanup, in addition to euthanization of cattle contaminated from the soil, crops and water.
Johnson county can also be urgent the state of Texas to dam using sewage sludge to fertilize native farmland. “In the end, our objective is to cease the move of contaminants into the county,” stated Christopher Boedeker, a county Choose.
For many years, farmers nationwide have been inspired by the federal authorities to make use of handled sewage sludge as fertilizer for its wealthy vitamins, and to scale back the quantity of sludge that have to be buried in landfills or incinerated. Spreading sewage on farmland additionally cuts down on using fertilizers created from fossil fuels.
However a rising physique of analysis reveals that the black sludge, created from the sewage that flows from properties and factories, can include heavy concentrations of PFAS in addition to different dangerous contaminants.
Final month, below the Biden administration, the Environmental Safety Company for the primary time warned that PFAS-tainted sewage sludge used as fertilizer can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock, posing human well being dangers.
The Biden administration additionally set drinking-water requirements for sure sorts of PFAS and designated two of the chemical compounds as hazardous substances that have to be cleaned up below the nation’s Superfund legislation. The way forward for these measures is unsure below the Trump administration. The E.P.A. says there isn’t any secure stage of publicity to these two PFAS.
There was little testing on farms. Maine is the one state that has began to systematically take a look at farmland for PFAS, and has shuttered dozens of dairy farms discovered with contamination.
Johnson County is the primary to instantly search federal help. It remained unclear, nonetheless, precisely how the county might faucet federal funds, significantly amid the Trump administration’s freeze on federal spending.
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation had offered $2 billion in funding to deal with PFAS and different contaminants in consuming water. It’s the way forward for funds like these, which have to be requested on the state stage, that stay unsure within the new administration.
The Federal Emergency Administration Company additionally has funds out there for nicely testing, which have to be requested by states, although that cash is usually distributed after pure disasters. President Trump has additionally focused FEMA funding, saying he needs states to deal with disasters with out the federal company’s assist. The Division of Agriculture additionally affords help to farmers affected by PFAS contamination, however that program is at present restricted to dairy farmers.
That leaves Johnson County in a bind.
Whereas President Trump has been hostile to laws, he additionally spoke on the marketing campaign path of “getting harmful chemical compounds out of our surroundings.” And considerations about PFAS contamination have reached some deeply crimson states and counties, like Johnson County, which voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump.
The E.P.A. and FEMA didn’t present remark.
In December, Texas legal professional normal Ken Paxton sued the biggest PFAS makers, saying they knew in regards to the risks of those chemical compounds, however continued to market their use. The G.O.P.-controlled Texas state legislature is contemplating payments that set limits on PFAS in sludge fertilizer and require producers to check for the chemical compounds.
The state of Texas has not indicated whether or not they may again Johnson County’s declaration and assist its request for federal help. The governor’s workplace didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Ricky Richter, a spokesman on the state’s environmental regulator, the Texas Fee of Environmental High quality, stated the company’s personal evaluation of PFAS ranges found by Johnson County investigators didn’t counsel any hurt to human well being or the setting.
The company didn’t instantly present particulars of its evaluation.
Johnson county officers stated they stood behind their findings. The ranchers are suing the fertilizer supplier, alleging that the contamination on their land was slowly sickening and killing their livestock. They’re nonetheless caring for the surviving cattle, however are now not sending them to market.
