EPA Shirking Its Duty to Protect Farmers, Gardeners, Food, and Water from PFAS Contamination
Washington, DC — As states across the country struggle with devastation to dairies, farms, and ranches from application of toxic sewage sludge fertilizers, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has filed an appeal in federal court seeking a ruling that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is legally obligated to act to prevent contamination from high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sewage sludge used as fertilizer.
EPA allows sewage sludge contaminated with high levels of PFAS to be spread as fertilizer on farms, rangeland, and home gardens, where these chemicals contaminate food supplies and have destroyed the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. Sludge spreading also contaminates groundwater and surface water, posing risks to water supplies, fisheries, and surrounding ecosystems. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” due to their long persistence in the environment and in living things.
At issue in the lawsuit is a provision of the Clean Water Act that requires EPA to review its regulations governing the use and disposal of sewage sludge every two years for the purpose of identifying and regulating substances that pose an environmental or public health danger. The lawsuit charges that EPA was remiss in failing to address certain PFAS in sewage sludge that have been well-studied and pose clear health and safety risks. Notably, EPA has not updated its sludge regulations since promulgating them in 1993.
In 2025, a judge for the U.S, District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the PEER suit, ruling that the term “biennial” in the statute only applies to the word “review,” but does not apply to the actions of identifying and regulating substances that pose an environmental danger, meaning that there is no timetable for EPA to act.
“This interpretation flies in the face of the language and purpose of Clean Water Act,” stated PEER Staff Counsel Laura Dumais, who filed Plaintiff-Appellants’ opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. “The statute has a clear and consistent scheme requiring quick action to protect public health from hazards in sludge, and it was plain error to interpret this provision to let EPA instead act at its leisure – or maybe never.”
Although EPA continues to claim that curbing PFAS pollution is a priority, it has little to show for it. EPA’s biennial reviews over the decades have collected information about substances but it is still in the process of “prioritizing” substances so it can eventually determine whether any require regulation. After 33 years, the agency has not made a single such determination.
“EPA needs to take action now to protect our nation’s food supply and farmers from these dangerous forever chemicals,” added Sarah Alexander, executive director of Plaintiff-Appellant Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. “EPA could decide to act immediately under the Clean Water Act to protect the health of our farmers and food supply. Its failure to act is both shameful and legally unjustified.”
In 2024, PEER filed the original lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs (now appellants): a group of adversely affected Texas farmers, their county (Johnson County, Texas), the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network.