Rural Missouri groups threaten to sue PFAS in meatpacking sludge • Missouri Independent

Industrial sludge often offered to Missouri farms as free fertilizer contains “forever chemicals,” claim several groups who are threatening to sue the state.

Two advocacy groups, along with a mid-Missouri farmer, notified several sludge suppliers and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources of their intention to sue in a letter dated Wednesday, saying the waste poses “an imminent danger and substantial impact on the environment and public health.”

Rural neighbors have reached out to lawyers and state legislators in recent months, looking for suspend the use of industrial sludge as fertilizer, saying its stench is unbearable and puts waterways at risk of contamination.

“It smells like gut and shit,” said Donald Craig, a Randolph County farmer, “and it’s just disgusting. It’s horrible.

Now, Craig and two rural advocacy groups argue that applying the sludge, which typically includes animal waste from meatpacking plants, violates environmental laws because of PFAS. He said that’s what worries him — PFAS seeping into the soil and groundwater.

“That’s where we get our water,” he said, “and I know it’s not good for our environment.”

Craig’s fellow plaintiffs are Stop Land Use Damaging Our Ground and Environment – or SLUDGE – and Citizens of Randolph County Against Pollution, known as CRAP

They say the sludge contains polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — also known as forever chemicals — which are a class of synthetic substances that don’t break down easily and, as a result, remain in the environment.

Chemicals — used for years in nonstick cookware, cleaning products, waterproof fabrics and firefighting foams, among other applications — can increase the risk of cancer, increase cholesterol and damage the immune system.

According to the notice of intent to sue, two companies that apply industrial sludge – based in Arkansas Denali Water Solutions and Maryland-based Synagro – have admitted that there may be PFAS in the sludge they supply.

The notice cites minutes from a July 2022 McDonald County Commission meeting when a Denali representative said its sludge may include PFAS.

“However, from the same statement, it appears that Denali has not tested the industrial waste it disposes of through land application,” the notice says.

Denali declined to comment.

Synagro, in a report published on its website in August, calls itself a “passive receiver” of PFAS when it collects waste. In the same report, it states that it is partnering with a company to test its PFAS destruction technology and expand service offerings to remove PFAS and other contaminants.

Synagro did not immediately return a request for comment.

The notice of intent to sue also prompts the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to take responsibility for proposed regulations that will require sludge companies to test their material for PFAS. If the chemicals are found, the report says, companies can apply the material but must test the soil twice a year. Soil concentrations, it says, should not exceed federal standards.

“The DNR has knowingly allowed,” the notice says, “and apparently will continue to allow the legacy companies to apply industrial waste containing PFAS in Missouri.”

The DNR said it does not comment on pending litigation.

The notice of intention to act requests that the State prohibit the application of industrial waste to the soil and that companies stop spreading the sludge. If they don’t comply by December 12, attorneys for SLUDGE, CRAP and Craig say they will seek a court order.