During a public meeting Wednesday, New York state Department of Environmental Conservation officials discussed proposed regulations for the use of sewage sludge on farmland.
Part of the proposed changes would alter the limits on what can be grown in fields that have been used for land spreading. Current regulations forbid food crops from being grown on fields where sewage sludge was spread for 14 months, and livestock cannot be grazed there for 30 days following the application.
“Time limits would be removed,” said Molly Trembley, an environmental engineer with the DEC, during the meeting.
That would mean no food crops can be grown on the fields that have been spread with Class B biosolids, and additionally, livestock would not be grazed on that land. However, crops that are fed to livestock can still be grown in fields used for land application.
Another proposed change is that soil samples would be collected from fields that are proposed sites for land application and tested for PFAS prior to being approved by the DEC. This will be done on a yearly basis, Trembley said.
“With that field data, we’re looking to assess if they are suitable for landspreading,” she said.
The samples would analyze the levels of PFOA and PFOS in the soil, and the limits would be determined based on the background levels of the two contaminants from a report released in December from the DEC. That report found that 97% of surface soils contain PFOS, and 76.5% contain PFOA.
The state Senate last year passed a five-year moratorium on the use of sewage sludge on farmland, but it did get a vote in the state Assembly. Trembley said the DEC considered banning the practice but ultimately decided that these proposed regulations will minimize the risk.