Songbird Farm, perched high on a ridge in Unity, Maine, was once a hub of activity. Now the fields lie fallow and the skeletal frame of the abandoned hoophouse is open to the sky. A passerby might think the property neglected, but the truth is far worse.
A federal court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit alleging US regulators failed to prevent widespread contamination of farmland with toxic PFAS chemicals was based on a “flawed interpretation” of the Clean Water Act, creating “dangerous real-world consequences for public health,” a watchdog group argued in a new court filing.
A federal district court this week dismissed a lawsuit alleging the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to prevent the contamination of farmland across the country with toxic PFAS in sewage sludge used as fertilizer.
By Marin Scotten
Ryan Dunham heard his eleven-year-old daughter’s scream from his living room. He bolted up the stairs to the bathroom where she was taking a shower and couldn’t believe his eyes. The water flowing from the faucet was brown, and it smelled like “decay, rot and death.”
By Shannon Kelleher and Carey Gillam
US regulators on Tuesday added to growing concerns about the long-standing practice of using sewage sludge to fertilize farmland, releasing a report warning that chemicals contaminating the sludge pose heightened human health risks for cancer and other illnesses.
By Shannon Kelleher
US regulators claim they are not legally required to regulate toxic PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge spread on farmland across the country, according to a court filing the government made this week in response to a lawsuit from an environmental watchdog group.
By Shannon Kelleher
US regulators failed to prevent toxic PFAS in fertilizers from contaminating farmland across the country, alleges a lawsuit filed this week by a watchdog group on behalf of two Texas farm families who suffered health problems after their properties were polluted.
By Shannon Kelleher
When Jim Buckle and his wife, Hannah Hamilton, started their 18-acre organic vegetable farm in Unity, Maine more than a decade ago, they wanted to grow the healthiest food possible. But after a wholesale buyer asked them to test their operation for toxic chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in 2022, the couple was in for a shock.
By Shannon Kelleher
In the wake of fresh evidence that US farms are being poisoned by PFAS-laden fertilizers, a watchdog group and two Texas farm families said Thursday they plan to sue regulators to try to force protective actions.
By Shannon Kelleher
Two Texas farm families have seen their health decline, their pets and livestock sickened and killed, their water poisoned and and their property values wiped out due to high levels of chemical contamination linked to a company marketing treated sewage sludge as a fertilizer and soil conditioner, according to a lawsuit filed by the families.