{"id":87711,"date":"2026-03-19T15:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=87711"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:34:07","slug":"toxic-sewage-sludge-fertilizer-fight-at-the-appeals-court","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/news\/toxic-sewage-sludge-fertilizer-fight-at-the-appeals-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxic Sewage Sludge Fertilizer Fight at the Appeals Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em><strong>EPA Shirking Its Duty to Protect Farmers, Gardeners, Food, and Water from PFAS Contamination<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Washington, DC<\/em>&nbsp;\u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u201cforever chemicals\u201d due to their long persistence in the environment and in living things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, a judge for the U.S, District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the PEER suit, ruling that the term \u201cbiennial\u201d in the statute only applies to the word \u201creview,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis interpretation flies in the face of the language and purpose of Clean Water Act,\u201d stated PEER Staff Counsel Laura Dumais, who filed Plaintiff-Appellants\u2019 opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. \u201cThe 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 \u2013 or maybe never.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although EPA continues to claim that curbing PFAS pollution is a priority, it has little to show for it. EPA\u2019s biennial reviews over the decades have collected information about substances but it is still in the process of \u201cprioritizing\u201d substances so it can eventually determine whether any require regulation. After 33 years, the agency has not made a single such determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEPA needs to take action now to protect our nation\u2019s food supply and farmers from these dangerous forever chemicals,\u201d added Sarah Alexander, executive director of Plaintiff-Appellant Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. \u201cEPA 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87711","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Toxic Sewage Sludge Fertilizer Fight at the Appeals Court - Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MOFGA and our partners appealed the recent federal court decision to dismiss our lawsuit against the EPA. We are still working to fight this ruling and will keep you updated every step of the way on our effort to turn off the PFAS tap.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/news\/toxic-sewage-sludge-fertilizer-fight-at-the-appeals-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toxic Sewage Sludge Fertilizer Fight at the Appeals Court - Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MOFGA and our partners appealed the recent federal court decision to dismiss our lawsuit against the EPA. 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