Environmental Advocates NY issued the following statement in response to the proposal in Congress to block the EPA from regulating the spreading of biosolids containing dangerous PFAS chemicals on farmland.
This statement can be attributed to Claire Walsh Winsler, Director of Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Policy, Environmental Advocates NY:
“This week Congress advanced a proposal that would prevent the federal government from ever regulating companies that spread toxic sewage sludge — contaminated with industrial waste and forever chemicals — on farmland and public parkland. This puts food safety, clean drinking water, farmers’ health, and rural economies at serious risk.
“These lawmakers are willing to ignore the health risks of dumping contaminated industrial waste in our communities just to enrich the corporations that haul sewage sludge. And if they succeed, people in Upstate New York, Long Island, and New York City — and across America — will find their land, food, and water loaded with toxic chemicals.
“Congress must reject this reckless proposal — and New York State also needs to strengthen our own laws safeguarding our farmland and parkland from dangerous dumping. If Congress won’t protect us, we need to protect ourselves.”
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