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Climate|Texas County Declares an Emergency Over Toxic Fertilizer
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/climate/forever-chemicals-sewage-sludge-fertilizer-texas.html
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Johnson County is seeking federal assistance, saying its farmland has become dangerously contaminated with “forever chemicals” from the use of fertilizer made from sewage sludge.
Feb. 14, 2025, 12:25 p.m. ET
A Texas county is taking steps to declare a state of emergency and seek federal assistance over farmland contaminated with harmful “forever chemicals,” as concerns grow over the safety of fertilizer made from sewage.
Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, has been roiled since county investigators found high levels of chemicals called PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, at two cattle ranches in the county in 2023.
The county says the PFAS, also known as forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment, came from contaminated fertilizer used on a neighboring farm. That fertilizer was made out of treated sewage from Fort Worth’s wastewater treatment plant. A New York Times investigation into the use of contaminated sewage sludge as fertilizer focused in part on the experience of ranchers in Johnson County.
PFAS, which is used in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets, has been found to increase the risk of certain types of cancer, and can cause birth defects, developmental delays in children, and other health harms.
County commissioners passed a resolution this week calling on Texas governor Greg Abbott to join the declaration, and seek federal disaster assistance.
“This is uncharted territory,” said Larry Woolley, one of the county’s four commissioners, in an interview. The funds, he said, would be put toward testing and monitoring of drinking water, cleanup, as well as euthanization of cattle contaminated from the soil, crops and water.
