The Texas County takes steps to declare an outstanding state and seeking federal aids over agricultural areas polluted “forever chemicals” because concern grow for the safety of fertilizers made of sewage.
The County of Johnson, south of Fort Worth, has been covered since county investigators found a high level of chemicals called Pfas, that is, a per- and a polyFluurials, on two rances of cattle in the 2023 County.
The county says that PFA, and are also known as forever chemicals because they do not break in the environment, came from a contaminated fertilizer used on a neighboring farm. It is fertilizer made from the treated sewer from the Fort Wortha waste water treatment plant. Investigation of the New York Times on the use of contaminated sewer sludge as fertilizer partly focused on The experience of the ranch In Johnson district.
It has been revealed that PFA, which are used in everyday objects such as non-gauge and stain resistance dishes, increases the risk of certain cancer types and can cause innate flaws, delays in developing in children and other health damage.
The county commissioners brought a resolution this week, inviting Governor Texas Greg Abbott to join the declaration and seek federal disaster assistance.
“This is an untreated territory,” said Larry Woolley, one of the four county commissioners, in an interview. The funds, he said, will be focused on testing and monitoring drinking water, cleaning, as well as euthanization of cattle contaminated from soil, crop and water.
The Johnson County also presses the state of Texas to block the use of sewer sludge for the fertilization of local agricultural land. “Finally, our goal is to stop the flow of pollution in the county,” said Christopher Boedeker, a county judge.
For decades, farmers have been across the country Encouraged by the federal government To use treated sewer sludge as a fertilizer for their rich nutrients and reduce the amount of sludge that must be buried on landfills or burned. The spread of the sewer on agricultural land also reduces the use of fertilizers made of fossil fuels.
But increasing research shows that black sludge, made of sewage that flows from houses and factories, may contain heavy concentrations of PFA as well as other harmful pollution.
Last month, under the Governing of Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency First warned This sludge in a sewer that is typed pfas used as fertilizer can contaminate soil, groundwater, crops and livestock, which represents the risks of human health.
The Bidana Administration also set up drinking water standards for certain types of PFA and marked two chemicals as dangerous substances that must be cleaned under the State Law on Superfund. The future of these measures is uncertain under Trump’s administration. Epa says there is no safe level of exposure to these two pfs.
There is little testing on the farms. Maine is the only country that began systematically testing agricultural land for Pfas and closed dozens of dairy farms found with pollution.
The Johnson County is the first to seek federal help directly. However, it remained unclear so that the county could use federal funds, especially in the midst of freezing Trump administration on federal consumption.
Duplicate Infrastructure Law of President Biden secured $ 2 billion In financing to deal with PFA other pollution in drinking water. The future of such funds, which must be requested at the state level, which remains uncertain in the new administration.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also has a good testing funds, which the states must request, although this money is usually distributed after natural disasters. President Trump also aimed at funding for FEMA, saying that he wanted the states to wear disasters without the help of a federal agency. The Ministry of Agriculture also offers assistance to farmers affected by PFAS contamination, but this program is currently limited to milk farmers.
This leaves Johnson district in the relationship.
While President Trump was hostile to the regulations, he spoke and the trace of the campaign “pulling out dangerous chemicals from our environment.” And the concern for contamination of Pfas reached some deep red states and counties, such as Johnson County, who voted for Mr. Trump.
Epa and Fema did not comment.
In December, Texas State Attorney Ken Paxton Sued the biggest pfas Manufacturers, saying that they know about the dangers of these chemicals, but continued to market for their use. State Legislature in Texas under control of GOP is considering accounts that set restrictions on PFAS in sludge fertilizer and require the manufacturer to test the chemicals.
The Texas State did not indicate whether to support the Johnson district statement and support his federal assistance request. The Governor’s Office did not respond to the commentary requests.
Ricky Richter, a spokesman for the State Environmental Protection Regulator, the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, said that their own analysis of PFAS levels discovered by the Johnson County Investigators did not suggest any damage to human health or environment.
The agency did not immediately give details about its analysis.
Johnson County officials said they were behind their findings. Rancher of the lawsuit of fertilizer, claiming that pollution on their country is slowly ill and killed their cattle. They still take care of the survivor’s cattle, but they no longer send them to the market.
