Fertilizer manufacturers said their products are safe and the government supports their use as a valuable practice to recycle nutrients back to farmland.
JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas — Ranchers here say their cattle, fish and horses are dying or becoming sick from fertilizers spread on nearby farmland.
This fertilizer is made from treated human waste from the City of Fort Worth.
The company that makes the fertilizer says its product meets government standards.
County authorities have launched a criminal investigation, and ranchers are suing, claiming fertilizer runoff has rendered their land useless.
Rancher Tony Coleman's cattle roam his 300 acres outside Grandview. He said what was found on his land had become toxic.
“We're nervous and scared,” he told WFAA.
Coleman said the products her neighbors used to fertilize their crops contaminated their land and killed livestock and fish.
“You have your entire livelihood taken away from you,” Coleman said.
He said 10 cows, two horses and five ponds full of fish have died so far.
Late last year, he contacted Johnson County Constable Detective Dana Ames. She headed to the ranch to check it out.
Ames said she discovered what she later learned was a pile of fertilizer made from biosolids. Biosolids are made from human waste and are full of what researchers call PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
“It's a man-made chemical,” Ames said. “It's in the sewage sludge. It's in the biosolids.”
For a year, Detective Ames worked with scientists and experts to uncover how a toxic man-made chemical ended up on a ranch in rural Texas.
She recently filed her findings in Johnson County Commissioners Court.
“The contamination caused to victims' properties is widespread,” she told commissioners in a presentation.
That's exactly what happened, according to her and scientists from a group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). It all started with a facility used by the City of Fort Worth to treat wastewater.
According to multiple studies and the Environmental Protection Agency, all humans ingest PFAS chemicals, which are used to make all kinds of products, including shampoo, carpets, frying pans, and even cosmetics. The chemicals end up as human waste and are sent to wastewater treatment plants. Biosolids are produced during processing.
These biosolids are also called sewage sludge and can be used to make fertilizer. A company called Synagro does this.
And Synagro has an agreement with the City of Fort Worth to use the biosolids in fertilizer production.
Tony Coleman and four other landowners are suing Synagro for contaminating their land.
“This is appalling and I think our clients would like to see some redress for them,” attorney Mary Whittle said. ”
In an emailed statement, Synagro Vice President of Government Affairs Layne Baroldi said the company denies the allegations in the lawsuit and says its fertilizers are safe.
“The biosolids applied by farmers working with Synagro met all U.S. EPA and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requirements,” the statement reads. “U.S. EPA continues to support biosolids land use as a valuable practice for recycling nutrients back to agricultural land, and at this time there is no indication that PFAS in biosolids requires changes to current biosolids management practices.” I haven’t.”
Biosolid fertilizers are sold nationwide for agricultural use. PEER says it may contain toxic levels of PFAS.
Johnson County Commissioner Larry Woolley said farmers who buy it are “led to believe it's a safe, cheap fertilizer, and they're being victimized just like everyone else.”
Experts say PFAS chemicals are carcinogenic and can kill animals, fish and humans.
Detective Ames said Eurofins Lancaster Laboratory tested tissue from dead cows, fish and horses at Coleman's ranch. She said very high levels of PFAS were found in animal tissues. Tests also detected the virus in well water in Johnson County. Eurofins is a TCEQ state approved accredited laboratory.
“The well water and animal tissue all tested 100 percent contaminated,” Ames said. “These properties were 100 percent contaminated.”
County commissioners were shocked.
“My first thought was, this is Chernobyl, a nuclear meltdown,” Commissioner Kenny Howell said.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection banned the use of biosolids fertilizer in 2022 after farms were contaminated with high levels of PFAS, killing animals and fish.
Here in Texas, the TCEQ regulates biosolids, and the Texas Feed and Fertilizer Administration and the Texas Bureau of Chemists have general authority over the use of fertilizer products.
TCEQ told WFAA that “biosolids that meet strict requirements to prevent metal contamination and significantly reduce pathogens may be approved for onshore use.”
A spokesperson for Texas A&M's Texas Feed and Fertilizer Service said someone from the office attended Ames' presentation in Johnson County Commissioners Court but could not comment due to ongoing litigation.
Ames and county commissioners say regulations don't go far enough, and there is little or no follow-up testing for PFAS chemicals after fertilizers are applied.
“These things should be banned across the country,” said rancher Tony Coleman. “I mean, what are our kids going to do? You're ruining their land. You're ruining their water source… This has to stop.”
The EPA referred questions about the Johnson County case to state officials. The EPA is currently conducting a study of biosolids and potential contamination across the country, with results expected by December. It will determine what regulations, if any, will be imposed on companies producing biosolids.
Ames and PEER scientists say the Texas Legislature and the federal government have done little to regulate biosolids, but the EPA has begun banning or restricting the use of PFAS chemicals in everyday products. .
“They've been there for decades, if not centuries,” Ames said. “They won't go away. They'll stay there and pollute the land and water forever.”
More details on WFAA's findings:
