A Texas county is taking steps to declare a state of emergency and search federal help over farmland contaminated with dangerous “without end chemical substances,” as considerations develop over the security of fertilizer constituted of sewage.
Johnson County, south of Fort Price, has been roiled since county investigators discovered excessive ranges of chemical substances referred to as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, at two cattle ranches within the county in 2023.
The county says the PFAS, also called without end chemical substances 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 the usage of contaminated sewage sludge as fertilizer centered partly on the experience of ranchers in Johnson County.
PFAS, which is utilized in on a regular basis gadgets like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets, has been discovered to extend the danger of sure kinds of most cancers, and may trigger start defects, developmental delays in youngsters, 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,” mentioned Larry Woolley, one of many county’s 4 commissioners, in an interview. The funds, he mentioned, 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 be urgent the state of Texas to dam the usage of sewage sludge to fertilize native farmland. “In the end, our objective is to cease the stream of contaminants into the county,” mentioned Christopher Boedeker, a county Choose.
For many years, farmers nationwide have been encouraged by the federal government to make use of handled sewage sludge as fertilizer for its wealthy vitamins, and to cut back the quantity of sludge that have to be buried in landfills or incinerated. Spreading sewage on farmland additionally cuts down on the usage of fertilizers constituted of fossil fuels.
However a rising physique of analysis exhibits that the black sludge, constituted of the sewage that flows from houses and factories, can comprise heavy concentrations of PFAS in addition to different dangerous contaminants.
Final month, underneath the Biden administration, the Environmental Safety Company for the first 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 substances as hazardous substances that have to be cleaned up underneath the nation’s Superfund legislation. The way forward for these measures is unsure underneath the Trump administration. The E.P.A. says there isn’t any protected degree of publicity to these two PFAS.
There was little testing on farms. Maine is the one state that has began to systematically check farmland for PFAS, and has shuttered dozens of dairy farms discovered with contamination.
Johnson County is the primary to straight search federal help. It remained unclear, nonetheless, precisely how the county may faucet federal funds, notably amid the Trump administration’s freeze on federal spending.
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation had provided $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 degree, that stay unsure within the new administration.
The Federal Emergency Administration Company additionally has funds accessible for properly 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 provides help to farmers affected by PFAS contamination, however that program is at the moment restricted to dairy farmers.
That leaves Johnson County in a bind.
Whereas President Trump has been hostile to rules, he additionally spoke on the marketing campaign path of “getting harmful chemical substances 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 lawyer basic Ken Paxton sued the largest PFAS makers, saying they knew concerning the risks of those chemical substances, 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 substances.
The state of Texas has not indicated whether or not they’ll again Johnson County’s declaration and help 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, mentioned 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 mentioned 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.
