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A Texas County takes action to declare the state of emergency and request federal aid on agricultural land contaminated by harmful “chemicals”, as concerns are developing concerning the safety of fertilizers made in the wastewater.
Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, has been rolled since the county investigators found high levels of chemicals called PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyle substances, in two County cattle ranches in 2023.
The county says that the PFAs, also known as Forever Chemicals, because they do not decompose in the environment, came from contaminated fertilizers used in a neighboring farm. This fertilizer has been made of treated wastewater from the Fort Worth wastewater treatment plant. A New York Times survey on the use of contaminated treatment sludge as fertilizer was partly focused on the experience of breeders in Johnson County.
PFAs, which are used in everyday items such as non -stick kitchen utensils and stains resistant carpets, have increased the risk of certain types of cancer and can cause congenital malformations, development delays in children and other health damage.
The Comté commissioners adopted a resolution this week by calling the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to join the Declaration and request federal assistance on disasters.
“This is an unexplored territory,” said Larry Woolley, one of the four county commissioners, in an interview. The funds, he said, would be devoted to tests and the surveillance of drinking water, cleaning, as well as the euthanasia of cattle contaminated by soil, crops and water.
The County of Johnson also puts pressure on the state of Texas to block the use of treatment sludge to fertilize local agricultural land. “In the end, our goal is to stop the flow of contaminants in the county,” said Christopher Boedeker, county judge.
For decades, farmers in the country have been encouraged by the federal government to use the treatment sludge treated as fertilizers for its rich nutrients and reduce the amount of sludge that must be buried in discharges or cremated. The spread of wastewater on agricultural land also reduces the use of fertilizers made from fossil fuels.
But a growing set of research shows that black sludge, made from wastewater which arise from houses and factories, can contain high concentrations of PFA as well as other harmful contaminants.
Last month, under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency first warned that sewage sludge under tension of PFAS used as fertilizer can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock , posing human health risks.
Biden administration has also established drinking water standards for certain types of PFA and designated two of the chemicals as dangerous substances that must be cleaned within the framework of the country’s superfundant law. The future of these measures is uncertain under the Trump administration. EPA says there is no safe level of exposure to these two PFAs.
There have been few tests on farms. Maine is the only state that has started to systematically test agricultural land for PFA and closed dozens of dairy farms found with contamination.
Johnson County is the first to directly request federal aid. It remained clear, however, exactly how the county could exploit federal funds, in particular in the middle of the Trump administration on federal spending.
Bipartite infrastructure law of President Biden had provided $ 2 billion In funding to approach APFs and other contaminants in drinking water. It is the future of funds like these, which must be requested at the level of the state, which remain uncertain in the new administration.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also has funds available for well tests, which must be requested by states, although money is generally distributed after natural disasters. President Trump also targeted FEMA funding, saying that he wanted states to manage disasters without the help of the federal agency. The Ministry of Agriculture also offers assistance to farmers affected by the contamination of PFAs, but this program is currently limited to dairy producers.
This leaves Johnson’s county in an obligation.
While President Trump was hostile to regulations, he also talked about the campaign campaign to “withdraw dangerous chemicals from our environment”. And concerns about the contamination of PFASs have reached deeply red states and counties, such as Johnson County, who voted massively for Trump.
EPA and FEMA did not comment.
In December, the Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton continued the largest PFAS The manufacturers, saying that they knew the dangers of these chemicals, but continued to market their use. The legislature of the State of Texas controlled by the GOP envisages bills which set limits for APFs in sludge fertilizers and oblige producers to test the chemicals.
The state of Texas has not indicated if they will support the Declaration of Johnson County and will support its request for federal aid. The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comments.
Ricky Richter, spokesperson for the State’s environmental regulator, the Texas environmental quality committee, said that the own analysis of the PFAS level agency discovered by johnson county investigators n ‘ had not suggested damage to human health or the environment.
The agency did not immediately provide details on its analysis.
Johnson County officials said they were standing behind their conclusions. The breeders continue the fertilizer supplier, alleging that contamination on their land was slowly disgusting and killing their cattle. They still take care of surviving cattle, but no longer send them to the market.
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