Experts say abandoned mill could have had alarming impact on thousands of farms: 'They brought us all their problems'

An abandoned mill in South Carolina stands as a grim reminder of concerns surrounding PFAS in the soil of a small farming community, The New York Times reported. But a recent announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency promises action.

What's happening?

The town of Society Hill is home to an old Galey and Lord textile mill. The mill closed in 2016 after the company filed for bankruptcy twice in 2004. Before its closure, the company distributed sewage sludge as fertilizer to local farmers until as late as the 1990s. This was a common practice among waste-producing mills and factories for decades across the rural United States — until these "biosolids" were found to frequently contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as "forever chemicals."

Society Hill was one of those communities found to have PFAS in its soil. The EPA declared the mill a Superfund site in 2022, making it eligible for federally funded cleanup. But environmental experts say the status should also apply to the nearly 10,000 acres of contaminated farmland surrounding the mill.

"They said that it was good fertilizer, that it would help our crops," one farmer told the Times. "They said, 'This is so great for you. You can have it for free.' And they brought us all their problems."

Why are PFAS bad?

PFAS are widely known to cause health problems in people exposed to them, especially for long periods of time. Some effects commonly associated with PFAS exposure include reproductive problems, developmental delays in children, and weakened immune systems. 

The problem is widespread, especially in the rural South. A county in Texas declared a state of disaster because of PFAS contamination just this year amid fish and cattle deaths. Experts also found groundwater had been contaminated in areas where sewage sludge was distributed as fertilizer, similar to the situation in Society Hill.

What's being done right now?

In 2021, the EPA began monitoring PFAS nationwide, particularly contaminated drinking water. By October of the same year, a plan was developed to confront the problem. The agency is in the midst of executing the plan, most recently releasing a three-year progress report in November. 

In the meantime, the transition of presidential power has left many wondering if testing and cleanup will continue as the Trump administration makes promises of more federal spending cuts. In April, the administration quietly began a plan to kill hundreds of PFAS bans across the country. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a new plan to combat the chemicals in the administration's first statement regarding the topic.

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