This week's stories about nitrates in fertilizer, including manure, polluting drinking water in Minnesota's karst region, wasn't the only ag input problem in headlines this week.
Forever chemicals in wastewater sludge, sometimes applied to farm fields as fertilizer, also graced some reporting.
This news wasn't surprising to me, since my late father, an organic micro farmer, turned down sludge back in the day before PFAS were an issue, though composted manure was welcome in his tomato patches. There was plenty in that sludge that he didn't want in his veggies.
On Wednesday morning, Minnesota Public Radio's Kirsti Marohn reported in Report: Wastewater is key contributor of 'forever chemicals' pollution:
A new report from an environmental advocacy group says wastewater treatment plants and sewage sludge are key pathways for so-called “forever chemicals” to contaminate Minnesota waterways.
The report, by the nonprofit Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and a University of Minnesota professor, says Minnesota state agencies need to take stronger action to regulate PFAS in wastewater, as other states have done.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are human-made chemicals used in a variety of products, from nonstick cookware to firefighting foam.
They don’t break down in the environment and have been found in humans and wildlife across the globe. Some PFAS have been linked to health problems, including low birth weight, kidney and thyroid disease and cancer. . . .
After wastewater is treated, leftover biosolids — sometimes called sewage sludge — are frequently spread on farm fields as fertilizer. PFAS in biosolids can leach into groundwater or nearby surface waters, the report says.
Matt Simcik, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, contributed to the report. He said field testing on three streams in the St. Cloud area, where use of biosolids on farm fields is widespread, found considerably higher PFAS levels than rivers in areas where biosolids were not applied.
The report’s authors say state agencies should require industrial facilities to remove PFAS from their wastewater before sending it to treatment plants.
They also want to add PFAS as a pollutant under Minnesota’s management rules for sewage sludge, so wastewater treatment plants would be required to test biosolids intended to be spread on farm fields for the chemicals.
They say these actions are a critical next step to tackling the PFAS problem, following the Minnesota Legislature’s action this year banning the non-essential use of the chemicals beginning in January 2025. . . .
Read the rest at MPR. Here's the MCEA report:
MCEA Report: Forever Chemicals in our Wastewater uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Later in the day, Deena Winter reported for the Minnesota Reformer in Environmental group calls on state to do more about forever chemicals in sludge used as fertilizer, concluding:
The Legislature passed one of the nation’s toughest bans on products containing the chemicals, banning them from 13 products beginning in 2025, and by 2032, banning intentionally added PFAS from all products unless regulators decide they’re essential.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a statement saying it has collected PFAS monitoring data from wastewater treatment plans and is working with cities to use new tools to identify and reduce the chemicals in their communities. The agency plans to do additional monitoring to inform future permitting strategies in programs such as the wastewater program.
Regulating PFAS in farm fertilizer will likely be a political challenge, as the farm lobby has consistently avoided many environmental regulations.
That last sentence may earn the Understatement of the Year Award in Minnesota media, though it's not impossible that something might be done.
2023 Legislative Action on PFAS in Pesticides
Indeed, some slo-mo change is coming on the presence of PFAS in pesticides, as a consequence of legislation passed last spring. On the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Products With Added PFAS web page, there's this:
In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature passed bills (SF 1955 and HF 2310) regulating pesticide products that contain intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). One of the new laws requires pesticide registrants to inform the MDA if a pesticide product contains intentionally added PFAS. Registration of pesticide products that contain intentionally added PFAS will be cancelled according to the deadlines laid out in statute unless the use of PFAS in the product is determined by the commissioner of agriculture to be a “currently unavoidable use.”
Timelines
According to the new regulations under the Pesticide Control law (MINN. STAT. § 18B) and the Fertilizer, Soil Amendment, and Plant Amendment law (MINN. STAT. § 18C) the MDA must follow the timelines below.
NOTE: To allow the MDA time to assess products for “currently unavoidable use” (when requested), it is recommended that registrants of products containing intentionally-added PFAS submit information about PFAS in their products well in advance of the prohibition deadlines. This will allow the MDA to make unavoidable use determinations in a timely manner. , , ,
In this report, we have identified some of the steps that the MPCA can take now, through its Clean
Water Act authority, to better understand the scope of PFAS contamination from wastewater streams
and ensure that responsible parties bear the costs of pollution clean-up wherever possible. To protect
Minnesota’s communities from further damage caused by the toxic effects of PFAS on human health,
our recommendations are to:
• Add PFAS as a pollutant under the Minnesota Sewage Sludge Management Rule;
• Require wastewater treatment plants to monitor influent, effluent, and land applied biosolids for PFAS so we
can better understand the scope of contamination;
• Use pretreatment programs to require industrial dischargers to use best management practices and
treatment options to reduce and remove PFAS from industrial wastewater before it reaches municipal
wastewater treatment plants;
• Label Class A EQ biosolids sold for public distribution as potential sources of PFAS;
• Investigate sensitive sites (based on soil type/hydrology) where biosolids have been land applied for decades
for legacy soil and groundwater contamination;
• Require PFAS data in the environmental review (Minnesota Environmental Policy Act) process, such as the
Met Council wastewater treatment plant’s proposed addition of a fourth incinerator;
• Monitor ambient groundwater for PFAS contamination from landfill leachate and land applied biosolids;
• Develop strong statewide Class 1 Water Quality Standards that mirror the proposed federal Maximum
Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for 6 PFAS compounds.
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