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A Glen Rose lawmaker is pushing to regulate “forever chemicals” that farmers allege have contaminated their land, giving rise to a lawsuit filed by five Johnson County farmers against the company that produced fertilizer containing the chemicals.Rep. Helen Kerwin, a Republican whose district includes all of Johnson and Somervell counties, filed the bill just over a month before her county declared a state of disaster in February. County officials said Fort Worth’s wastewater plant provided biosolids fertilizer — made from treated waste — that infused land with harmful PFAS chemicals. The plant was managed by Synagro, which is the target of the lawsuit. The city has since terminated its 10-year contract with Synagro, opting to operate the plant on its own. The farmers who filed the lawsuit against Synagro allege the exposure has rendered their land virtually useless. Synagro, which did not respond to requests for comment on this story, previously told the Fort Worth Report its biosolids fertilizer was not the source of PFAS contamination, citing scientific analysis it conducted. The company has asked a federal court to dismiss the suit. Kerwin’s bill has attracted widespread bipartisan support, with a majority of Texas House members signing on as co-authors. It would set a maximum for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in agricultural products.What are PFAS chemicals?

PFAS are commonly used to increase water resistance and can be found in a range of products from cosmetics to nonstick cookware to firefighting foam. When these chemicals are released into wastewater treatment facilities, they accumulate in drinking water and biosolids. Due to the chemical composition of PFAS, they are called “forever chemicals” because they take hundreds of years to deteriorate.The Environmental Protection Agency does not currently limit the amount of PFAS allowed in biosolids fertilizer, though the Biden administration issued a January warning stating “there may be human health risks associated with exposure to the ‘forever chemicals’” in biosolids. Contamination has earned the attention of top Trump administration officials. In late April, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency would prioritize assistance to states and communities with PFAS contamination. During an April visit to Texas with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins acknowledged her personal connection to the Johnson County contamination. Beyond Rollins’ connections to Fort Worth, Kerwin, a freshman state lawmaker, is her mother. “I have seen firsthand that devastation in Johnson County, and I think that Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, alongside Administrator Zeldin, is going to be a real game-changer there,” Rollins said in an interview with WFAA. If Kerwin’s bill passes, Texas would be the fourth state to adopt regulations for PFAS in biosolids. “This is her No. 1 issue, to do everything she can in the Texas state legislature,” Rollins said of Kerwin. “The states, of course, are the laboratories of democracy. A lot of other states around the country have been leading the way, and I think she’s hoping that Texas will step up and lean in on that.” 

Bill would lead to ‘de facto ban’ of biosolids fertilizerUnder Kerwin’s bill, anyone producing, selling or using biosolids containing PFAS would be required to send a sample of the product to a testing service. If it exceeds the limit, the producer must dispose of the sampled batch to a hazardous waste facility.Any sample that tests “positive for any of those chemicals, which you know are indestructible, man-made, thousands of them now, then it will be taken to toxic landfills and never put on our land again,” Kerwin said on X. The bill will help assure “we can provide clean soil for our farmers, their crops and pure grasslands for our ranchers and their livestock,” said Kerwin, who was unavailable for additional comment. Her bill would also establish a Class A misdemeanor for someone who knowingly sells or uses material with excessive amounts of PFAS. A second violation would be a felony. A pipe for “digested sludge,” pictured in 2022, juts up into Fort Worth’s biosolids processing facility’s roof. Through processing, most of the liquid is removed from the sludge. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report) Julie Nahrgang, the executive director of the Water Environment Association of Texas, said the bill would essentially be a de facto ban of biosolids land application across the state. The test proposed in Kerwin’s bill would have a 20-day turnaround, during which the biosolids facility would have to store their product. It could cost several millions for storage alone, Nahrgang said.If the sample exceeds the PFAS limit, all biosolids would have to be moved to one of three hazardous disposal sites in Texas.“That, logistically, is impossible,” Nahrgang said, adding no utility or municipality is likely to take on that cost.Nahrgang said she is making several recommendations to Kerwin that would make the testing process outlined in her bill more effective, including testing all biosolids, establishing a database of PFAS test results and using that data to understand where chemical hot spots are.Despite establishing regulations for PFAS in drinking water, the EPA has yet to enroll and enforce restrictions on these chemicals in sewage sludge and biosolids. Last year, the EPA established the first federal maximum levels of forever chemicals in drinking water. These regulations require public water systems to monitor and reduce excessive PFAS levels, leading to the rollout of new testing and treatment procedures by water utilities like Fort Worth. By 2029, if the system violates the set chemical limit, they must notify the public. Samples of the city of Fort Worth and Synagro’s finished biosolid product were on display at the Village Creek biosolids processing facility on Dec. 1, 2022. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)The EPA is continuing work on a risk assessment of PFAS in sewage sludge used as fertilizer.Joseph Robledo, a spokesman for EPA Region 6 that includes Texas, said after the assessment, the EPA will determine the “risk from use or disposal of sewage sludge.” It could lead to “future regulatory actions under the Clean Water Act,” he said.Dallas lawmaker also making moves on PFAS limitsUntil the EPA establishes national standards for forever chemicals in biosolids, Texas lawmakers are poised to take steps to minimize the environmental damage by limiting the ways in which products with PFAS can be used.Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, has another bill that would limit the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS for testing or training purposes.Johnson County Commissioner Larry Woolley testified in favor of that bill during an April 14 hearing held by the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs.“Firefighter foam is a significant contributor to the biosolids or sewer sludge that are continually land applied to agricultural land in Texas as well as across this nation,” Woolley said. “These products have been applied in Johnson County as well as numerous other counties to the point where we now have serious contamination of soil, surface water and groundwater.” 

Supporters of Johnson’s bill shared concerns on the health risks posed to firefighters exposed to PFAS. While research is ongoing, exposure to high levels of forever chemicals may lead to an increased risk of reproductive issues, developmental defects in children, and cancer, according to the EPA.Wendy Wagner, an environmental law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said in addition to requiring testing for PFAS, Texas should also require manufacturers of biosolids to document measures taken to ensure their products are free of contaminants.“The burden ultimately should be on the manufacturers to document their due diligence in providing a safe product as a condition to selling biosolids in the state,” Wagner said. “These reports would then be public records that could be made available to purchasers and others.” “It seems a sensible start to address the problems experienced in Johnson County without banning the use of biosolids altogether,” she added. With less than a month left in the session, Kerwin’s bill was heard by a committee May 8. The same bill sponsored by Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, in the upper chamber has not been scheduled for a committee hearing.Arabella Diedrich is a senior journalism student at UT-Austin and a contributor to the Fort Worth Report through the Reporting Texas program. The Fort Worth Report’s Texas legislative coverage is supported by Kelly Hart. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.