Free fertilizer: What could go wrong?

Subsurface injection of raw slurry using a slurry tank, tiller and nozzles. Image credit: researchgate.net, Leaching of Elements from Soil in Grassland Field Crops Treated with Raw and Acidified Slurry.

by Chuck Wisman

As I am still residing on the family farm—a former, small dairy operation—I often receive offers in the mail for “free fertilizer.”

What possibly could go wrong with such an offer? As it happens, the answer to that is: a whole lot of unanticipated and potential harm.

These offers of fertilizer came from companies that were paid to remove sewage sludge (or biosolids) from municipal sewage treatment systems. The sludge is a byproduct of that treatment, and the municipalities rid themselves of the sludge via private companies.

One such company is Synagro, a Texas-based company paid to remove the sludge. Synagro and other similar companies then offer unwitting farmers injection of the sludge into their fields as “ free fertilizer.”

Consider what actually goes into municipal sewage from unregulated toilets, sinks, storm drains, businesses, etc.? Obviously, a whole lot of drain cleaner, not to mention, chemicals from various detergents, solvents, and fabric softeners. Then there’s the array of medications and who-knows-what from businesses, auto shops, and more.

Journalists often uncover businesses or individuals who illegally dump toxic chemicals, petroleum products, etc. into drains. All of it goes through municipal sewage treatment systems that are unable to remove those contaminants, which are not really supposed to be there in the first place.

Now, the New York Times and other media are reporting PFAS (“forever” chemicals) have contaminated a multitude of agricultural lands across the country via municipal sludge. Research by 3M corporation, a major manufacturer of PFAS, “linked exposure to birth defects, cancer and more,” as reported to the EPA in 2003.

Municipal sludge, much of it tainted with PFAS, was spread on millions of acres across the country. Few states test for PFAS contamination, and Michigan is not one that tests routinely. But once the presence of PFAS is detected on farmland, those farmers are no longer able to sell their crops or animals due to this contamination, which likely began from the sewage sludge.

One such farmer is Jason Grostic from Brighton, Michigan. He and his family reside on his centennial farm, raising and selling beef directly to consumers. A May 2022 article in the “Progressive Farmer” described how the Grostic farm and family were impacted by PFAS.

After working with state officials to test biosolids for more than two years, Grostic was asked to join a Zoom meeting in late January. On that call, state officials told him he was under a seizure notice. No animals or meat were allowed to leave his farm.

“They said, ‘You’re out of business.’

I said, ‘Now what am I supposed to do?’

They said, ‘We haven’t got a clue, but you’re not selling your beef, and you can’t get rid of your cattle.”

Grostic’s 300-acre farm was shut down after Michigan officials concluded his water, his ground, his feed and his cattle were contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—known as PFAS, PFOS or PFOA chemicals.

Grostic’s farm was contaminated via sludge originating from the city of Wixom. According to an article published by the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, the sludge contained PFAS from Tribar Manufacturing, processed via Wixom’s sewage treatment system. The following link contains a disturbing video interview with Grostic and his family: ecocenter.org/vice-spotlights-demise-century-old-cattle-farm-due-pfas-contamination.

Injection of sewage sludge is prolific across the country, including in Michigan. PFAS is found throughout municipal sewage treatment systems emanating from manufacturing and consumer items such as non-stick pans, clothing enhanced with fire retardants, stain-resistant carpet, etc. The State of Maine has now prohibited the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer after finding “68 farms with significant contamination.”

Synagro is currently facing lawsuits across the country for damages due to contamination of farm fields, water and livestock. According to the New York Times, Synagro (now owned by Goldman Sachs—a global investment bank and securities firm) is lobbying Congress to limit the ability of farmers and others to sue them for cleanup. A bill has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House to protect sewage sludge companies.

According to the New York Times, “What the biosolids companies are doing is attempting to buy themselves a ‘get out of jail free’ card, said Mary Whittle, an attorney with Guerrero and Whittle who is representing Texas ranchers. All this protects a business model that ‘makes Synagro rich while destroying America’s farmland,’ she said.”

Notably, an executive with Synagro was sent to prison in 2009 for bribing a Detroit city councilwoman for her vote on a multimillion dollar contract for Synagro to dispose of Detroit’s sewage sludge.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency believes no level of exposure to PFAS is safe. Yet, as of this date, the E.P.A. supports sewage sludge used as a fertilizer.

Turning, once again, to the New York Times, we learn that, “More than two million dry tons [of sewage sludge] were used on 4.6 million acres of farmland in 2018. And it [the industry] estimates that farmers have obtained permits to use sewage sludge on nearly 70 million acres, or about a fifth of all U.S. agricultural land.”

So, you tell me: What could go wrong?