The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that as much as 3.5 million dry metric tons of treated sewage waste is spread as fertilizer across the country yearly.
Converting sewage to fertilizer saves cities money on landfill costs, is a cheaper nutrient-rich fertilizer for farmers, and has become a billion-dollar industry for a handful of companies.
However, biosolid fertilizer has been shown to contain chemicals that can harm the environment and human health.
“Essentially anything that goes down the drain ends up on these fields,” according to officials.
Scientific studies are increasingly warning about the PFAS chemicals found in biosolid fertilizers.
PFAS, also called “forever chemicals,” can be found in many water and heat-resistant products, personal hygiene materials, medication, and industrial waste.
Oklahoma has one of the most extensive biosolid fertilizer programs in the nation, as more than 80 percent of the state’s wastewater sludge ends up on crop fields, according to Investigate Midwest’s analysis of state records.
Synagro, a Goldman Sachs-owned company that spreads most of the biosolid fertilizer in Oklahoma and across the country, has lobbied against new regulations over “forever chemicals” in its fertilizer.
That is even as the company faces lawsuits from farmers claiming its product has devalued their land and created numerous health problems.
“Biosolids are a nutrient-rich end-product of the wastewater solids treatment process that have been treated to ensure safe use in agricultural land application,” company officials said.
While scientists have discovered PFAS chemicals already exist in the blood of nearly every living person and animal on the planet, recent studies have raised concerns about increased PFAS exposure through its presence in biosolid fertilizers, which impacts the air, water, and food.
In response to growing health concerns, the EPA recently announced it will require municipal water systems to remove nearly all PFAS substances.
However, the new rules don’t change the current standards of PFAS exposure in fertilizer.
Layne Baroldi, Synagro official, said, “Putting it on the ground is the best practice.”
More than 44,000 metric tons of biosolids were applied on Oklahoma fields in 2023, according to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1974, cities and towns faced stricter rules on how to process sewage. New biosolid materials needed to be disposed of and a handful of companies launched in an effort to fill the need.
Business picked up over the years as new rules were set, including a federal ban on dumping biosolid material in the ocean.
Established in 1986 in Texas, Synagro contracted with hundreds of cities to handle its biosolid waste, including land application as fertilizer.
Today, the company operates 24 facilities in the U.S. and Canada and handles 6.5 million tons of biosolid material annually.
Amid the increased focus on PFAS chemicals in waste and fertilizer, Synagro has also lobbied to ensure cities and companies are not held liable.
But as Synagro attempts to someday prevent lawsuits, legal challenges have already arrived.
Earlier this year, five Texas farmers sued Synagro claiming their properties were “poisoned by toxic chemicals” in the biosolid fertilizer the company spread on nearby farms.
Some of the plaintiffs also claim they began suffering from respiratory problems and skin irritation when the biosolid fertilizer was spread. Other plaintiffs claim their groundwater has elevated levels of PFAS.
For the past five years, Synagro has contracted with the city of Fort Worth to manage its biosolids programs and has spread the processed waste in 12 north Texas counties.
“Synagro knew, or reasonably should have known, of the foreseeable risks and defects of its biosolids fertilizer,” the lawsuit states.
“It nonetheless failed to provide adequate warnings of the known and foreseeable risk or hazard related to the way Synagro was designed, including pollution of properties and water supplies with PFAS.”
Synagro denied the allegations, calling them “unproven and novel.”
EPA continues to support land application of biosolids as a valuable practice that recycles nutrients to farmland and has not suggested that any changes in biosolids management are required.
As Synagro lobbies for federal liability protections, lawmakers in Oklahoma recently considered a similar proposal that would protect cities and companies from lawsuits if the biosolids they produce and convert into fertilizer were later found to be harmful.
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officials, said, “DEQ will support some version of federal legislation that provides protection for certain passive receivers who provide critical, public health services.
“As for increased PFAS standards, DEQ would like to see additional research done to further determine health impacts related to PFAS and standards based on scientific findings.”
Other states have said the health impacts are already apparent and biosolid fertilizer should be banned or severely restricted.
While the EPA has made progress on congressionally mandated PFAS rules related to drinking water, it has yet to complete a risk assessment of PFAS in biosolid.
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