Biosolids are sold as nutrient-rich fertilizer, but the Environmental Protection Agency and public health activists say hazardous chemicals are in the mix.
Rural landowners say America’s farms have become dumping grounds for sludge from the wastewater treatment plants of larger cities. They complain of foul odors, contaminated soil, health problems, and stormwater runoff contaminating streams, lakes, and groundwater with possibly dangerous chemicals.
The treated sewage sludge—known as “biosolids”— is the solid matter left from the wastewater treatment process. The sludge is removed from the bottom of the sewage plant tanks then treated to reduce pathogens for use as a soil amendment or fertilizer.
The biosolids industry promotes the treated sludge as an environmentally friendly way to recycle waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill while saving farmers money on fertilizer. Critics believe the less tangible costs of the sludge far outweigh any benefits.
Luther, Oklahoma, property owners Walt and Saundra Traywick, say they were first introduced to biosolids by a sickening stench outside their home in 2018. They say they have been dealing with the impact of the treated sewage and the PFAS chemicals they carry ever since then.
“It’s that rotting carcass smell, but more metallic,” Walt told The Epoch Times.
Saundra Traywick said a neighbor was spreading biosolids from wastewater treatment plants in Oklahoma City and Tulsa on his land. She and some of her neighbors were able to get the practice banned in their town of Luther. And the company spreading the materials agreed to include buffer zones around their work area.
But, when she contacted the cities to complain, she was told “you shouldn’t have moved here if you didn’t like it, because we’ve been doing this for 40 years.”
Using biosolids as fertilizer has been controversial since the early part of this decade when per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also called forever chemicals, were found in the sludge. The state of Maine has banned the practice over public health and safety concerns.
PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade easily and can remain in soil, air, water, plants and animals even years after exposure.
The controversy was further heightened when the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced he was tapping the brakes on a regulatory process begun under former President Joe Biden.
On May 14, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency is maintaining its current guidelines for levels of PFAS in drinking water.
