Following a series of legal action and scrutiny from North Texans, Fort Worth leaders parted ways with the fertilizer company contracted for the city’s biosolids processing operations.
During a March 25 meeting, City Council members approved the water department’s recommendation to end its 10-year contract with Synagro. As part of the settlement, the city will pay the company $2.4 million to compensate past operations and maintenance costs, city spokesperson Mary Gugliuzza said in a statement.
The termination comes in response to disagreements between city leaders and Synagro over contract requirements, Gugliuzza said.
“This agreement avoids potential legal disputes between the parties,” said Gugliuzza.
Since February, City Council members have discussed the city’s biosolids contract with Synagro in two closed executive sessions.
The water department will take over operations and maintenance of the biosolids facility by April 5 and will introduce contracts to support the transition in management, said Gugliuzza.
In 2019, Synagro was contracted by Fort Worth leaders to manage and operate the Village Creek biosolids processing facility, where the company produced the dry-pellet fertilizer from treated sewage sludge and distributed the product to farmers and farmland across North Texas.
Before Synagro took over management, the fertilizer previously attracted complaints from residents in rural areas surrounding Fort Worth, citing “horrendous odors.”
But the company was met with criticism in late 2022 from Johnson County farmers, who suspect the application of the biosolids fertilizer led to problems with their health and contamination of their farmland.
This prompted five Johnson County residents to sue Synagro, alleging the company’s fertilizer caused the deaths of animals and health issues brought on by high levels of PFAS — shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — or “forever chemicals.” The city of Fort Worth was not named in the lawsuit.
Soil, water and animal tissue samples collected from the affected areas in Johnson County showed high levels of PFAS, according to the lawsuit.
The forever chemicals are known for accumulating in the environment and people’s bodies. They break down slowly.
The Environmental Protection Agency has outlined PFAS limits for drinking water. However, the agency released a risk assessment in January concluding possible human health risks associated with the exposure to forever chemicals via biosolids fertilizer. Forever chemicals found in biosolids are largely due to wastewater from manufacturers or commercial entities that have a history of using PFAS.
Exposure to high levels of PFAS has been tied to health issues such as developmental delays in children, increased risk of some cancers and decreased fertility.
After affected farmers called on local officials, Johnson County commissioners issued a state of disaster, requesting state and federal emergency funds to address farmland, livestock and water wells contaminated by the biosolids fertilizer containing PFAS.
“This situation threatens the very foundation of our agricultural community and the safety of our residents,” Johnson County Judge Christopher Boedeker said in a Feb. 11 news release.
Fort Worth leaders recently joined Johnson County in taking action against companies utilizing PFAS.
The city is looking to hold the U.S. Department of Defense, industrial conglomerate 3M, chemical company DuPont and other manufacturers liable for $420 million damages related to water contamination. The March 10 lawsuit alleges the companies for years knowingly sold and distributed products containing PFAS to North Texas customers, including the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.
The use of PFAS at the base led to contamination in the city’s water supply, Fort Worth officials wrote in the lawsuit.
The city has made “significant” expenses for water quality testing and constructing filtration systems to mitigate the impacts of forever chemicals in the city, the suit states.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.