Baltimore's wastewater treatment plant at Back River doesn't just process sewage. It's also hiding a dirty secret — an unsavory mixture of toxic "forever chemicals" that make their way from toilets to farms to plates.
What's happening?
The city's sewage flows into the wastewater treatment plant each day, where it is processed into both dry biosolids and a dark sludge. Both products are then shipped out to farms in the area, where they are spread across soil to act as fertilizer.
Unfortunately, as The Baltimore Banner reported, the treatment process does little to nothing to filter out harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known more commonly as forever chemicals.
And via this sludge, high concentrations of these substances are making their way into agricultural soil, air, and water. From there, they end up inside produce and livestock — and then on plates.
In fact, one group of Texas ranchers is suing Synagro Technologies — the same wastewater treatment company used in Baltimore — alleging that the PFAS in Synagro's sewage sludge poisoned their herds.
Maryland, it seems, is no different; a 2023 test of wastewater sludge there found two PFAS at levels several times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit.
Yet despite this, city officials renewed a contract last month with Synagro, signing on for $53 million and another four years of operations.
Why are PFAS so harmful?
PFAS have been associated with a number of serious health issues, from several types of cancer to thyroid disease, pregnancy complications, decreased fertility, high blood pressure, and more.
They end up in sewage because of the many substances that are flushed down drains, including cleaning chemicals and medicines, and make it through the treatment processes fully unchanged.
And as Food & Water Watch explained, using this only partially treated sludge in agriculture is incredibly dangerous. "Sludge isn't a green plant food — it's riddled with harmful chemicals that leach into soil, plants, water, and even the food we eat," it stated.
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Majorly 😥 In Baltimore, local politicians are hoping to enforce stricter regulations on PFAS, but they're being met with less enthusiasm than they'd hoped for from fellow lawmakers. The Banner spoke with Brent Walls, the Upper Potomac Riverkeeper, who argued that the alarm bells aren't being rung as loudly as they should because Maryland has not done comprehensive PFAS testing. But, he argued, both Synagro and public works officials know what's happening — and the dangers it poses to residents.
"They're not being honest, they're not being truthful and they're not being fair," he said.
What's being done to limit PFAS?
Several stakeholders acknowledge the complications and challenges of this issue; the wastewater treatment facility needs to operate 24/7 or risk backing up, making a full-scale pivot difficult. Yet as Sen. Sara Love argued, even though it's complicated, "The answer cannot be that we as Marylanders have to pay with our health."
Removing PFAS from water with more thorough treatment is possible, but it's costly — experts estimated that building a facility at Back River that could handle it would cost over $100 million, the Banner reported. Several places have found success in monitoring water for PFAS before it enters wastewater treatment plants and diverting contaminated sources.
Maine fully banned the application of sewage sludge in agriculture in 2022, and Maryland has taken the step of imposing a moratorium on new agricultural permits for wastewater sludge.
Synagro announced plans to test using extreme heat as a more affordable way to destroy PFAS, though it's unclear how well this will work or when it might be possible at scale.
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