‘Forever chemicals’ are found in MWRA fertilizer, drawing alarm
QUINCY — The sludge arrives by the
ton, pumped through miles of underwater pipes from Deer Island to a
waste-water treatment plant on the banks of the Weymouth Fore River,
where it’s spun through centrifuges into a kind of wet cake, dried by
large furnaces, and made into fertilizer pellets.
Converting much of the region’s sewage
into a valuable byproduct was a major achievement of the Boston Harbor
cleanup. Over the past three decades, the fertilizer has been sold or
given away in massive amounts: tens of thousands of tons a year sent to
farms and golf courses, parks and gardens across the region.
“We call it black gold,” said Carl
Pawlowski, manager of residuals operations at the Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority, which sells the pellets in colorful 40-pound bags
as Bay State Fertilizer, billed on its packaging as “The Responsible
Choice for Healthier Lawns and Gardens.”
But recent tests of the
fertilizer, which has been sold for nearly 30 years, have caused
concern.They show levels of toxic chemicals known as PFAS, which have
been linked to low infant birth weights, kidney cancer, and a range of
other diseases.
The MWRA tested the material in March,
after similar contamination was discovered at other treatment plants
around the country. The results were alarming — the fertilizer contained
more than 18,000 parts per trillion of just three PFAS chemicals. The
overall amount of PFAS is probably higher, given the lack of testing for
other chemicals.
Neither federal nor state regulators
have set standards for the amount of PFAS — known as “forever chemicals”
because they don’t fully degrade — allowed in waste-water sludge.
But in drinking water, the US
Environmental Protection Agency recommends that municipalities alert the
public if two of the most common chemicals add up to 70 parts per
trillion. Massachusetts uses the same level for five PFAS chemicals.
As a growing body of research has
found that the chemicals can be toxic in much smaller amounts, federal
and state regulators are reviewing their standards. Massachusetts
officials are poised to lower the limits in ground water and drinking
water to 20 parts per trillion for six of the chemicals combined.
Scientists and environmental advocates
have urged regulators to set standards for the sludge, also known as
“biosolids,” because it can leach into ground water, get absorbed by
plants, and be ingested by livestock.
“Applying biosolids with such high
levels of PFAS to land risks contaminating drinking-water supplies and
food crops,” said Laurel Schaider, a research scientist at the
Newton-based Silent Spring Institute.
MWRA officials declined to answer
questions about whether they should continue selling the fertilizer, but
a spokeswoman said their products comply with current regulations.
“In the absence of existing state or
federal standards for PFAS in biosolids, the Commonwealth, through the
Department of Environmental Protection, will begin developing testing
protocols and screening levels for biosolids and continuing to require
entities that sell, distribute, and apply biosolid products to test for
PFAS,” Ria Convery said in a statement. “Recognizing the emerging issue
of PFAS contamination and the importance of ensuring public health, the
MWRA will continue to test biosolid pellets for PFAS chemicals, while
meeting all state and federal requirements for waste-water
contaminants.”
But Schaider and others noted that
MWRA’s fertilizer exceeds limits imposed this year in Maine after
elevated levels of PFAS were found on a dairy farm in Arundel, which for
decades used a similar type of fertilizer.
Tests of the farm’s milk showed that
it contained 1,420 parts per trillion of PFAS. The owners of the farm,
Fred and Laura Stone, were later found to have more than 20 times the
normal amount of PFAS in their blood.
In response, Maine banned farms from
using waste-water sludge that contained elevated amounts of three common
PFAS chemicals. The MWRA sludge, which is trucked across the region,
had more than triple the amount for one of the chemicals.
Because of exemptions in Maine’s new
rules, the MWRA has been allowed to sell its sludge to farms in Maine,
though in smaller amounts per acre. That has angered some environmental
advocates who learned of the high concentrations from the Globe. The
MWRA has done little to publicize its test results.
“It shouldn’t be sold here or
anywhere,” said Patrick MacRoy, deputy director of the Portland-based
Environmental Health Strategy Center, a public health advocacy group.
“It should be treated as contaminated waste and disposed of in a safe
way — not given to farmers and gardeners.”
The MWRA has long tested the
fertilizer, which comes from the waste water of 43 communities, for
pathogens and heavy metals, as federal regulators require. But it only
began testing for PFAS in March — after Maine set its standards — and is
screening for just three out of thousands of PFAS chemicals, many of
which are ubiquitous in the environment after being used for decades in
everything from food packaging to furniture.
Since 2016, the MWRA has sold more
than 100,000 tons of New England Fertilizer, the brand name it uses for
bulk sales, earning the agency over $1 million. In the same time, it has
sold or given away more than 1,300 tons of Bay State Fertilizer, which
goes mainly to individuals, earning about $61,000.
“The MWRA does not profit from the
sale of Bay State Fertilizer or New England Fertilizer,” Convery said.
“The MWRA’s goal is beneficial reuse of the disposed waste.”
She added: “The successful cleanup of Boston Harbor is tied directly to the cessation of dumping sludge into the harbor.”
EPA officials declined to comment on
whether the MWRA should continue selling the fertilizer but said the
agency is studying the issue.
“Addressing the uncertainty around
potential risk for pollutants identified in biosolids is a top
priority,” said Dave Deegan a spokesman for the EPA’s New England
office. “The agency will also be taking steps very soon to bolster
research efforts related to PFAS in biosolids.”
Researchers are working to determine whether ingesting crops grown from contaminated fertilizer is dangerous. It
probably depends on the amount of fertilizer applied and the type of
soil. The chemicals can also leach into water supplies, but the amount
depends on the depth of ground water and the distance to wells.
Asked about the risks of consuming
crops grown with contaminated sludge, Linda Birnbaum, a toxicologist who
recently retired as director of the National Institute for
Environmental Health Sciences, said she had concerns.
“I wouldn’t want to use the more highly contaminated samples,” she said.
Linda Lee, an environmental chemist at
Purdue University, has tested sludge from treatment plants around the
country, including from the MWRA, where she found that Bay State
Fertilizer contained 34,000 parts per trillion of more than a dozen of
the chemicals.
At this point, however, she doesn’t think such fertilizers should be banned.
Reusing the sludge is preferable to
dumping it in landfills or burning it in incinerators, which increase
carbon emissions and could disperse it over large areas if released
through smokestacks.
The best solution is to remove PFAS from consumer products, she said.
“These compounds are persistent, and
they can cause adverse effects,” she said. “But we should also be
concerned about the unintended consequences of overreacting.”
Officials at the North East Biosolids
& Residuals Association, a trade group that represents the sludge
industry, said the MWRA should continue selling its fertilizer, citing a
National Academy of Sciences study in 1996 — conducted when few
understood the dangers of PFAS — that found sludge use on soils presents
“negligible risk.”
“Biosolids recycling is a significant
part of making communities sustainable,” said Janine Burke-Wells, the
association’s executive director.
But environmental and public health
advocates said the risks of exposure to PFAS chemicals outweigh the
benefits of recycling the waste. They also note that in 2018, after
scientists established that even minute amounts of PFAS can be harmful
to human health, the EPA’s inspector general told the agency that it
shouldn’t rely on the outdated National Academy of Sciences report and
that it should recognize more studies were needed.
Kyla Bennett, science policy director
of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a
Washington-based advocacy group, said it “defies logic” that the state
recognizes the threats of PFAS while “simultaneously selling the exact
same chemicals to be spread across farms, backyards, and golf courses
throughout the state.”
“We need to pause and figure out a better answer,” Bennett said.
On a recent tour of the MWRA’s
sprawling treatment plant in Quincy, where the sharp smell of ammonia
fills the air, Carl Pawlowski acknowledged the concerns.
He compared PFAS to DDT, another toxic
chemical that doesn’t break down easily and has had major environmental
and health consequences. Standing beside four tanks that each hold a
million gallons of the so-called black gold, he said he hoped federal
regulators would place stricter limits on PFAS chemicals, reducing the
amount produced.
Asked if he thought the state should be selling the fertilizer, Pawlowski appeared conflicted and weighed his answer carefully.
“At the end of the day, I just don’t know,” he said.
David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.
It polluted Boston Harbor, but it doesn't pollute the ground?????? Hmmmmmmm
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