The company that produces biosolids at Hartland Landfill for the Capital Regional District is being sued by a group of Texas farmers.
The farmers claim their lands have been rendered “worthless” after fertilizer containing toxic chemicals from biosolids produced by a Synagro plant in Fort Worth was spread by a neighbouring farmer on his crops. They say the toxic chemicals contained in the biosolids fertilizer permeated their drinking-water wells and other water sources used for raising animals and crops.
“We have no reason to believe that the technology employed by Synagro in Texas … are any different than the technology they use here,” he said.The lawsuit comes as the CRD discusses what to do with its biosolids: Four years after effluent from the region’s five core municipalities started making its way through the $775-million sewage treatment system, there is still no clear plan.
That has allowed the regional district to send biosolids to a gravel extraction quarry in Cassidy, where biosolids mixed with sand are being stored. The quarry operator is awaiting approval under provincial mining regulations to use the biosolids in quarry reclamation. The group said it favours the CRD testing pyrolysis or gasification to mitigate toxic chemicals and create gas for heat and electricity or biochar that can be used as a soil additive. The CRD has said it could take seven to 10 years to build a facility.
An analysis for PFAS detected 14 of the 38 most common types, also all in the parts-per-billion range. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change said provincial regulations require biosolids applied to land to be treated and stabilized to reduce pathogens. They’re then tested to ensure they meet high-quality standards to protect human health and the environment, the ministry said.
The suit claims Synagro’s biosolid fertilizer tested positive for 27 individual PFAS chemicals and that eight of those were found in “extremely high concentrations” on the plaintiffs’ properties by a Johnson County environmental investigator. Tissue samples from fish in ponds on the farmers’ lands also indicated high levels of PFAS chemicals.
“They are suffering significant daily economic losses due to the inability to market their cattle or beef or hay and may have to euthanize their entire herd, a crushing and emotional task, especially since, at the time of this complaint, seventy-three heifers are pregnant,” the lawsuit said.