The City of Fort Worth, Texas, is ending its contract with Synagro, the Goldman Sachs-backed provider of fertilizer made from sewage sludge, amid concerns that “forever chemicals” in the fertilizer are contaminating local farmland and groundwater.
Fort Worth this month also sued several manufacturers of the chemicals, also called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, alleging that they contaminated the city’s water supplies.
The New York Times reported last year on a group of ranchers in Johnson County, just south of Fort Worth, who sued Synagro, blaming the fertilizer used on neighboring farmland for contaminating their crops and livestock.
The sewage-sludge fertilizer came from Synagro, which had a contract to take sewage from Fort Worth’s sewage treatment plant, treat it further, and distribute it to farmers as fertilizer. Johnson County has since launched a criminal investigation into Synagro.
A growing body of research has shown that sewage sludge, much of which is used as fertilizer, can be contaminated with PFAS, a synthetic chemical used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets.
The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment. When tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock.
In January, the Environmental Protection Agency warned for the first time that PFAS present in sewage fertilizer, also known as biosolids, can pose human health risks. Maine, the only state that has started to systematically test farmland for PFAS, has detected the chemicals at dozens of dairy farms. But there has been little testing on farms in other states.
Fort Worth’s city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to cancel a 10-year contract signed with Synagro in 2019. The contract will end on April 1, and staff at the city’s water utility are working on new contracts for its biosolids operations, according to council records.
The city did not cite a reason for terminating the contract. But in a recent lawsuit filed by Fort Worth against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals, the city cited the presence of PFAS in the city’s drinking-water sources and wastewater infrastructure.
Synagro said in a statement that the company and the city of Fort Worth “mutually agreed to part ways and settle all claims following ongoing disagreements regarding contract requirements.” It said that the termination was unrelated to PFAS. The city’s water department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Synagro, owned by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has disputed claims that its biosolids have contaminated Texas farmland. This month, the company filed a motion to dismiss the Johnson County ranchers’ claims, citing an independent investigation it had commissioned that concluded that sludge fertilizer could not be the source of high PFAS levels found in the ranchers’ livestock.
Synagro also said testing had shown far lower levels of PFAS in the soil than claimed by the ranchers. The company has not publicly released the investigation.
The ranchers have stopped sending their cattle to market, while continuing to care for them, and say they face financial ruin.
“Fort Worth terminated their contract with Synagro early and is suing manufacturers of PFAS at the same time Synagro is claiming their biosolids did not cause the pollution on our clients’ land,” said Marry Whittle, an attorney for the ranchers. “It just doesn’t add up.”
Dana Ames, an environmental investigator leading Johnson County’s probe of Synagro, said an “exhaustive investigation” had found high levels of PFAS on the rancher’s property. “We have ruled out all other sources of contamination. We also tested the biosolids and found contamination,” she said.
At the council meeting, Luanne Langley, a resident of Grandview, Texas, accused the city of standing by while Synagro “dumped biosolids on unsuspecting landowners and farmers.” She said canceling the contract was not enough. “How is that going to help the families whose lives have been destroyed?” she said.
