https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/19/us-states-toxic-
sewage-sludge-pfas-farmers

Regulators allow states to continue spreading sludge even as PFAS-tainted
substance has ruined livelihoods and poisoned water

States are continuing to allow sewage sludge to be spread on cropland as
fertilizer and in some cases increasing the amount spread, even as the
PFAS-tainted substance has ruined farmers� livelihoods, poisoned water
supplies, contaminated food and put the public�s health at risk.

Michigan and Maine are the only two states in the US to widely test
sludge, and regulators in each say contamination was found in all tested
samples. Still, in recent months, officials in Virginia increased the
amount of sludge permitted to be spread on farmland without testing for
PFAS, while Alabama regulators have rejected residents� and environmental
groups� pleas to test sludge for the chemicals.

Similar fights are playing out in other states, including Georgia and
Oklahoma, and public health advocates fear regulators are ignoring the
dangers to appease the waste management industry.

�We�re in an absolute mess, and the government knows we�re in a mess, but
it seems like they don�t know what to do,� said Julie Lay, an Alabama
agricultural worker who has organized residents to try to stop sludge from
being spread in the state. �It�s terrible.�

Left: Man standing in a foggy field with a young calf, Right: white
barnhouse seen through window
�I don�t know how we�ll survive�: the farmers facing ruin in America�s
�forever chemicals� crisis

Sewage sludge is a byproduct of the water treatment process that�s left
over when water is separated from human and industrial waste discharged
into the nation�s sewer systems. The Sierra Club has characterized sludge
as �the most pollutant-rich manmade substance on Earth�.

The biosolid treatment process doesn�t remove PFAS, or �forever
chemicals�, a widely used toxic compound � typically used to make
thousands of products resist water, stain and heat � that experts say
contaminates all sludge. The chemicals can easily move from sludge into
soil, crops, cattle, and nearby drinking water sources. Regulators in
Michigan and Maine�s testing programs have identified widespread
contamination in fields where the substance was spread, as well as in
crops, beef, groundwater and even farmers� blood.

Maine last year became the first state to ban the practice after
contamination harmed its agricultural industry. Similarly, Michigan
officials and environmental groups have uncovered PFAS contamination on
dozens of farms, forcing one to shut down and raising questions about
safety of the state�s farmland. The state enacted a plan to identify farms
at risk for the highest levels of contamination, prohibited some
wastewater treatment plants from selling sludge, and forced polluters to
stop discharging PFAS into sewers.

But other states are taking a different approach. In July, the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) gave the green light to a permit
request by waste management giant Synagro to spread sludge across nearly
5,400 acres of farmland in King William county, just north of Richmond.
The request followed a 2013 permit allowing the company to spread on 7,155
acres in the county, and the DEQ is now considering a new permit request
for a further 1,900 acres, said Tyla Matteson, chair of the York River
Group of the Sierra Club.

About 80 local residents and environmental groups objected to the most
recent Synagro permit, and called for a public hearing. Among other
concerns, they say sludge spread on neighboring fields has sickened them,
emits a noxious stench, and contaminates their drinking water, soil and
food with PFAS.

But state regulators said Synagro is complying with all state and federal
laws, denied the request for a public hearing, and ignored demands for
PFAS testing. Synagro did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

�We are disgusted, because we are slowly being poisoned,� Matteson said.
�Virginia needs to have a backbone and do what other states are doing.�

In a statement to the Guardian, the Virginia DEQ said it was waiting for
the Environmental Protection Agency to finish analyzing the risk of PFAS
contamination in biosolids before it will consider testing for the
chemicals. No limits on PFAS in sludge or food have been established at
the state or federal level.

A spokesperson cited a study that suggested PFAS does not build up on
farmland at high levels, and said the discovery of widespread
contamination in Michigan and Maine may be an �outlier�. The Virginia
DEQ�s claim contradicts Michigan regulators� study that found a direct
correlation between biosolid use and PFAS buildup on farms.

In response to several years of resident complaints about odor, pollution,
PFAS contamination and other issues, regulators with the Alabama
Department of Environmental Management in June tightened some rules around
how sludge and other waste products spread on agricultural land are
applied and stored.

But the state ignored calls for sludge to be tested for PFAS, and did not
respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. A refusal to test amid
ongoing crises in Michigan and Maine is �worrying�, said Jack West, policy
and advocacy director for Alabama Rivers Alliance, which has petitioned
the state to test for PFAS.

�We want to eat food grown in our state, but it�s concerning to go to
grocery stores or farmers markets and not know if the food that we�re
buying was grown in soils that had sludge applied to them when nobody is
testing the sludge for PFAS,� he said.

Absent meaningful help from state regulators, public health advocates plan
to push legislators to take up the issue in the next session, West said.

In northern Alabama, Julie Lay and her neighbors have asked a judge to
order a nearby farm to stop spreading sludge, and are attempting to
educate farmers about the risks. Sludge spread on a nearby field may be
poisoning an aquifer from which at least 30,000 residents draw water, Lay
said. She equated the sludge�s stench to that of decomposing bodies, and
said the substance has sickened her neighbors.

Unwitting farmers are the victim of industry players like Synagro that
push the cheap biosolids, Lay added.

�What they�re doing is evil,� Lay said. �[Synagro has] no clue what�s in
sludge as long as toilets are flushed into the sewers and industry waste
is coming down, too.�

In Virginia, Matteson said farmers and residents don�t have any good
options for stopping sludge permits from being approved, but added they
will continue to oppose new permit requests and raise awareness.

�I�m a believer in people speaking out,� she said. �I�m a believer in
never quitting.�

--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.