‘A nightmare.’ North Texas farmers say chemicals in fertilizer are killing their livestock Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article290761039.html#storylink=cpy
Families who built their small farms around riding their horses, raising cattle and holding family fish fries in rural Johnson County face an uncertain future because of what they’re finding in the pasture or stock tank: dead or deformed cattle, horses and fish. The past two years have been a “nightmare” for the family farmers, and they point to “forever chemicals” found in fertilizer made from sewage as the reason.
The five farmers who live outside of Grandview — James Farmer, Robin Alessi, Patsy Schultz, and Karen and Tony Coleman — have been embroiled in a complex legal battle with the EPA and fertilizer manufacturer Synagro Technologies Inc. and its Texas subsidiary since February, when they filed a lawsuit against Synagro in Circuit Court of Baltimore County and one against the EPA in Washington. Tony Coleman, left, Karen Coleman and her mother, Patsy Schultz, are three of the five farmers in a legal battle with the EPA and fertilizer manufacturer Synagro Technologies Inc. The families seek more than $75,000 in damages from Synagro because they cannot sell their cattle and their land is “almost worthless” as a result of the contamination by the fertilizer from a neighboring farm. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com Synagro contracts with Fort Worth to manage the city’s biosolids program, which involves separating solids in the sewage treatment process and recycling the waste into granulate fertilizer. After the sludge is treated in Fort Worth, it is sent to farms in Johnson, Hill and Wise counties, including one that neighbors the farmers’ properties.
Synagro contracts with more than 1,000 municipal waste treatment facilities and uses the biosolids to manufacture Synagro Granulite Fertilizer, according to court documents. Biosolids are used instead of commercial fertilizer across the world, but Maine and Connecticut have banned them over concerns about the forever chemicals, and Michigan has placed limits on them. Forever chemicals, also known as PFAS, are man-made synthetic chemicals used in a range of products, including carpet, clothing and nonstick cookware. They don’t break down, and they accumulate in the human body and in the environment.
They’re in the blood of people and animals across the world, as well as the air, water and soil, according to the EPA. They are also known to cause health problems such as cancer. The families seek more than $75,000 in damages from Synagro because they cannot sell their cattle and their land is “almost worthless” as a result of the contamination. Tony Coleman looks over at the mass grave he dug for the livestock the family has had to bury after finding forever chemicals on the family land. Coleman says the cattle eventually cannot use their hindquarters to lift themselves and often need to be euthanized. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
The farmers said they never know if they will have to drop everything to take their animals to Texas A&M for necropsies. James Farmer recorded videos on July 29 to show what the families often find when checking on their livestock. In this case, a previously healthy cow is lying in the pasture unable to stand up and was euthanized. “This is what we deal with daily, weekly, monthly,” Farmer says in the video he shared with the Star-Telegram.
As the cow mooed softly, Karen Coleman tearfully asked a veterinarian, “How long is this going to take?” “Pretty quick,” the doctor replies. “We’re having to euthanize this cow because she can’t get up,” Farmer says, adding: “She’s asleep now. She’s gone.” Johnson County farmer James Farmer recorded video in July of 2024 of a veterinarian euthanizing one of their cows after she became sick as a way to show what he and his partner have been dealing with. He ans his neighbors are in a legal battle with the EPA and the fertilizer manufacturer Synagro Technologies Inc. and its Texas subsidiary, alleging that forever chemicals from biosolids fertilizer made from sewage are deforming and killing livestock. BY COURTESY OF JAMES FARMER
