Letter: Williamstown Should Adopt Ban on Sewage Sludge Land Application
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To the editor:
This year, Williamstown Town Meeting will be considering whether to adopt a new bylaw that would prohibit the land application of sewage sludge or sewage sludge-derived products (biosolids). The ban would apply to land application of sludge and biosolids to farmland as a soil amendment or to home gardens where store bought compost may contain biosolids. The intent of this bylaw is to protect farmland, water sources, food crops and ultimately animals and people from PFAS contaminants.
PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of "forever chemicals," and are linked to health issues like cancer, liver damage and immune system dysfunction. They enter wastewater systems through residential, commercial and industrial sources. Conventional treatment processes are largely ineffective at removing them. As a result, PFAS pass through treatment systems into surface waters or accumulate in sewage sludge/biosolids.
Most states and the federal law have been slow to regulate this activity. The EPA's January 2025 Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment identified human health risks associated with land-applied biosolids containing as little as 1 part per billion of PFAS and yet federal law does not yet impose limits on PFAS in biosolids.
A growing number of states are adopting a range of regulatory and monitoring strategies. Maine is the only state so far to impose an outright ban on land application of biosolids from wastewater treatment plants, while Connecticut has banned the sale of biosolids containing PFAS for land application. In New York State, at least two communities, Thurston and Cameron, have banned the land application of biosolids.
At this time, we don't know of any farms in Williamstown that currently use biosolids. But we also don't know the future of the farms in our community. Biosolids can also be found in some commercially bagged compost. While this bylaw would not ban the sale of these products, we hope it will raise awareness and encourage our residents and local vendors to find biosolid-free products for use.
Let's keep our lands safe for our children and future generations. Williamstown's Select Board, Agricultural Commission, and the Board of Health recommend adoption of this article. We hope you will support this article on May 19, 7 p.m. at the town meeting at Williamstown Elementary School.
Stephanie Boyd
Sharon Wyrrick
Williamstown, Mass.
Tags: annual town meeting,
