Science
Sewage Sludge Fertilizer From Maryland? Virginians Say No Thanks.
In 2023, sewage plants in Maryland started to make a troubling discovery. Harmful “forever chemicals” were contaminating the state’s sewage, much of which is turned into fertilizer and spread on farmland.
To protect its food and drinking water, Maryland has started restricting the use of fertilizer made from sewage sludge. At the same time, a major sludge-fertilizer maker, Synagro, has been applying for permits to use more of it across the state border, on farms in Virginia.
A coalition of environmentalists, fishing groups and some farmers are fighting that effort. They say the contamination threatens to poison farmland and vulnerable waterways that feed the Potomac River.
These sewage sludge fertilizers “aren’t safe enough for farms in Maryland, so they’re coming to Virginia,” said Dean Naujoks of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, which advocates for clean water. “That’s wrong.”
Virginia finds itself at the receiving end of a pattern that is emerging across the country as states scramble to address a growing farmland contamination crisis: States with weaker regulations are at risk of becoming dumping grounds for contaminated sludge.
In Virginia, Synagro, one of the nation’s leading providers of sludge for use as fertilizer, has sought permission to apply more sludge in rural Virginia, according to local filings. Synagro is controlled by a Goldman Sachs investment fund.
Kip Cleverley, the chief sustainability officer at Synagro, said in a statement that the fact that the fertilizer “may contain trace levels of PFAS does not mean that they are contaminated.” He said that Synagro continually adds new farms to its fertilizer program and that its decision to seek additional permits in Virginia was independent of any Maryland guidelines.
The fertilizer industry says more than 2 million dry tons of sewage sludge were used on 4.6 million acres of farmland in 2018. And it estimates that farmers have obtained permits to use sewage sludge on nearly 70 million acres, or about a fifth of all U.S. agricultural land.
But a growing body of research shows that this black sludge, also known as biosolids and made from sewage that flows from homes and factories, can contain heavy concentrations of harmful chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Those chemicals are thought to increase the risk of some cancers and to cause birth defects and developmental delays in children.
For people in regions like Virginia’s Northern Neck, the “Garden of Virginia” that is the birthplace of George Washington, the threat feels doubly unfair: Much of the biosolids moving across state lines come from big industrial cities like Baltimore.
The contamination, locals fear, will wash off the farmland and into the region’s rivers and creeks, and will hurt the farmers and watermen who live side by side.
“The water just runs off from the farmland into the water,” said Lee Deihl, a seventh-generation waterman who owns the Northern Neck Oyster Company, as he maneuvered an oyster boat through a winding tributary of the Potomac. “And we get some pretty big rains this time of year.”
His concerns are not unfounded. New research published in the scientific journal Nature found that PFAS in sludge applied as fertilizer can contaminate both farms and surrounding rivers and streams.
“That stream might be the headwaters to your drinking water, further downstream, or the chemicals might be bioaccumulating in fish,” said Diana Oviedo Vargas, a researcher at the nonpartisan Stroud Water Research Center, who led the federally funded study. “There’s a lot we don’t know. But these contaminants are definitely reaching our surface water.”
It is a tricky problem. Fertilizer made from sewage sludge has benefits. The sludge is rich in nutrients. And spreading it on fields cuts down on the need to incinerate it or put it in landfills. It also reduces the use of synthetic fertilizers made from fossil fuels.
But the sludge can be contaminated with pathogens as well as chemicals like PFAS, research has shown. Synthetic PFAS chemicals are widely used in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets, and are linked to a range of illnesses.
The E.P.A. regulates some pathogens and heavy metals in sludge used as fertilizer, but it does not regulate PFAS. This year, for the first time, the E.P.A. warned of the health risks of PFAS in fertilizer made from sewage sludge. The Biden administration last year also set the first federal PFAS drinking water standards, saying there was virtually no safe level of the chemicals.
The lack of federal rules on PFAS in sludge has left states in charge, leading to a hodgepodge of regulations and the diversion of contaminated sludge to states with weaker regulations.
Maine banned the use of sludge fertilizer in 2022. Since then, some of its sewage sludge has been shipped out of state because local landfills can’t accommodate it, local officials have said.
Maryland temporarily halted new permits for the use of sludge as fertilizer. The Maryland Department of the Environment also ordered PFAS testing at sewage treatment plants across the state. It found contamination in the wastewater and sludge, even after the treatment process, and now has adopted guidelines, albeit voluntary, that say sludge with high levels of PFAS should be reported and disposed of.
In Virginia, the groups opposed to Maryland’s sewage imports are urging the state to start regulating PFAS in sludge.
But in the meantime, tens of thousands of tons of Maryland sludge are already heading to Virginia, according to data from Virginia. Biosolids from 22 wastewater treatment plants in Maryland have been approved for use as fertilizer in Virginia, and all 22 of those plants have reported PFAS contamination in their biosolids, according to an analysis by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network.
In Westmoreland, a rural county in the Northern Neck, Synagro has reported applying sludge from 16 wastewater treatment plants in Maryland, all from facilities that have reported PFAS contamination.
In December, Synagro applied for a permit expansion that would allow it to apply sludge on 2,000 additional acres of agricultural land in Westmoreland, more than doubling the total. After comments filed by local residents prompted a public hearing, Synagro withdrew its application, though it has told Virginia regulators it intends to reapply.
In neighboring Essex County, Synagro is seeking to apply sludge to an additional 6,000 acres, increasing the acreage by nearly a third, according to its permit application.
Mr. Cleverley of Synagro said the biosolids the company applied in Virginia met Maryland’s PFAS guidelines.
Irina Calos, spokeswoman for Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, said her state had yet to see a significant increase in the amount of Maryland biosolids being applied in Virginia. She said the state was still reviewing Synagro’s applications to increase its acreage in Virginia.
Ms. Calos also said Virginia was not aware of any Maryland biosolids with levels of PFAS higher than what was recommended in Maryland. Environmental groups have countered that it is difficult to verify.
Jay Apperson, a spokesman for Maryland, said the state’s guidelines and testing requirements aimed to protect public health while also supporting utilities and farmers.
Robb Hinton, a fourth-generation farmer, has grown corn, soy and other crops on Cedar Plains Farm in Heathsville, Va., southeast of Essex and Westmoreland counties, for 45 years. He fears farmers in the Northern Neck are being misled.
“When people are giving you something for free, or nearly free, it sounds attractive, and I don’t fault any farmer trying it,” he said. But they had to remember that “it’s these big cities that are bringing their waste to us,” he said.
“I didn’t know about PFAS until I was talking with my watermen friends,” he said. “I can’t understand how Virginia doesn’t test for this.”
Synagro has also been directly lobbying farmers and other local residents. At a presentation in March, a Synagro representative, together with a researcher from Virginia Tech, distributed data from a study that appeared to show that fields that had received sludge fertilizer had only a third of the PFAS levels of fields that had not, according to attendees as well as presentation slides reviewed by The New York Times.
Synagro said it could not provide the full study because the company was not involved in it. The Virginia Tech researcher named on the materials did not respond to requests for comment.
At a meeting of Virginia’s State Water Control Board in March, Bryant Thomas, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s water division director, said the public had submitted 27 comments on Synagro’s plans to expand its use of sludge in Essex County. Of those comments, 26 expressed concerns over the effects of the sludge on public health and wildlife, including shellfish, he said.
The board subsequently requested that the agency study the issue further and report back.
“I think it’s interesting that Maryland is working on their rules and regulations, but then they’re sending their biosolids to us in Virginia,” Lou Ann Jessee-Wallace, the water board chairwoman, said in an interview. “We in Virginia are going to have to be on our toes to make sure that we are taking care of our water and our citizens.”
Experts say Maryland’s approach is a good first step. But even in Maryland, a bill that would have strengthened PFAS limits in biosolids failed at the last minute. And “we’re concerned about the patchwork of regulations among states,” said Jean Zhuang, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, an environmental nonprofit group. “The federal government needs to play a bigger role.”
President Biden had been set to propose a rule that would have limited how much PFAS industrial facilities could release in their wastewater. The Trump administration has pulled back that proposal, though recently said it could develop its own effluent limits.
Across the South, the center has already been pressing wastewater treatment plants to get local factories and other industrial facilities to clean up their wastewater before it reaches the treatment plant. That forces polluters to control pollution at the source, or even phase out the use of PFAS entirely, Ms. Zhuang said.
“If wastewater treatment plants acted, industries would be the ones paying for their own pollution,” she said, “and not the families and communities that rely on farms and pastures for their food, water, and livelihood.”
One recent evening, Michael Lightfoot, a waterman, went out to bring up a wire-mesh cage of oysters he cultivates in Jackson Creek, where he lives with his wife, Phyllis. After a nearly three-decade career with the federal government, he retired in 2012, and has been a full-time waterman since.
Mr. Lightfoot is part of an oyster cultivation boom in Virginia, which is now the East Coast’s biggest oyster producer and among the biggest producers in the nation. But his proximity to contaminated farms worries him, he said. “There is no farm field that doesn’t drain into our waterways,” he said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating a confirmed measles case in a resident who recently traveled internationally, the agency said in a release Saturday.
This is the fifth measles case identified by the county this year as outbreaks increase across the U.S. and globally.
The infected resident arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday on Alaska Airlines Flight 1354. Other travelers at Tom Bradley International Terminal B that day between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. may have been exposed to the virus, officials said.
Public health officials are advising residents to check their immunization status and watch for symptoms if exposed. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is the most effective protection from measles, according to the public health department.
“As measles cases increase, it is important that residents take steps to make sure they are fully protected,” L.A. County Health Officer Muntu Davis said in a statement. “The MMR vaccine is the safest and most reliable way to prevent measles and protect yourself, your family, and your community.”
In coordination with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, L.A. County Public Health will notify travelers seated near the infected person on the flight.
Affected travelers are at risk of developing measles from seven to 21 days after exposure to the virus. Symptoms include rash, fever, cough and red, watery eyes.
Measles can lead to complications including pneumonia, brain swelling and even death. Those with symptoms should notify their healthcare facility before visiting, officials said.
So far this year, 1,814 measles cases have been confirmed nationwide, including 48 in California.
In January, health officials recorded the most amount of cases since the U.S. achieved elimination of the virus in 2000.
Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered a remarkable combination of Homeric epic and Egyptian ritual: a 2,000-year-old mummy with a papyrus fragment of the “Iliad” sealed in a clay packet outside its wrappings.
It is the first time a literary work has been found playing a functional, spiritual role in the mummification process. And it suggests that for a Roman-era Egyptian, the “Iliad” — specifically some lines from Book 2’s “Catalogue of Ships” — was perhaps as crucial for navigating the afterlife as a magical spell.
“The find is incredibly significant, primarily for the discovery of such a papyrus with Greek literary text in its original context,” said Foy Scalf, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago. “We have evidence that such Greek literary texts could be used as magical amulets and that Homer was frequently cited in such amulets, as well as in the large handbooks now known as ‘The Greco-Egyptian Formularies.’ The new find directly supports that indirect knowledge.”
The mummy, a nonroyal male, was unearthed by the Mission of the University of Barcelona at a burial site known as Oxyrhynchus, as part of a project directed by Ignasi-Xavier Adiego of the university’s Institute of Ancient Near East. Leah Mascia, a specialist in the written and material culture of Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt at the Free University of Berlin, coordinated the collaborative breakthrough that finally brought the damaged text to light.
Recognizing that the heavily degraded papyrus required careful analysis, Dr. Mascia worked with a conservator, Margalida Munar, to stabilize the artifact, and Dr. Adiego, an authority on the Carian language, to study the text. Together, their combined expertise in preservation and linguistics allowed them to identify and read the document.
After six years of painstakingly reconstructing tomb fragments, Dr. Mascia uncovered a rare moment of cultural alchemy: Roman Egypt, where foreign and local customs merged. Her analysis, which identified embalmer seals and folding patterns of the papyrus packet, suggests that classical Greek epics were not merely read but physically repurposed.
Traditionally, mummified bodies were buried with sepulchral texts like the “Book of the Dead” and “The Book of Breathing,” formulaic manuals intended to protect and guide the deceased through the underworld. Yet, by the early Roman period, a major shift emerged: the introduction of sealed papyrus packets placed upon the dead.
These new packets contained a surprising mix of texts, including Greco-Egyptian magic, documentary records and even literary works like the “Iliad,” indicating a personalized, alternative funerary practice.
Out of the dumps
The Oxyrhynchus necropolis, located near the modern village of El-Bahnasa about 120 miles south of Cairo, is not just a burial site but an archaeological mother lode. Located on the banks of the Bahr Yussef canal, the area is speckled with ancient garbage dumps that managed to preserve everything from wedding invitations and tax records to horoscopes and early Christian gospels.
The ruins of Oxyrhynchus were initially documented by Vivant Denon, a scholar during Napoleon’s 1798 Egyptian campaign. But they held a secret that remained buried for an additional century, until 1896, when British archaeologists dug up more than 400,000 fragments of papyri from the ancient trash heaps. The discoveries ultimately included lost masterworks by poets and playwrights like Sappho and Euripides, transforming millenniums-old refuse into a cornerstone of classical literature.
In the 1990s, the Mission of the University of Barcelona and the University of Cairo began a joint project largely funded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. This ongoing mission, directed by Maite Mascort i Roca and Esther Pons Mellado and staffed by archaeologists, epigraphists and papyrologists, focuses on various sectors of the necropolis, including No. 22, where experts are reconstructing the elaborate social and religious life of residents during the transition from the Ptolemaic to the Roman era.
Researchers exploring the multichambered burial site have exhumed a remarkable trove of treasures, among them mummies adorned with golden tongues — gold foil placed over the mouth — and at least one with copper, ritualistic additions that may have ensured that the dead could confidently speak their case to Osiris, the god of death and resurrection, before judgment.
A separate, distinct area of the necropolis — Sector 42 — has yielded large jars containing cremated remains. One vessel held the bones of an adult, an infant and a feline, along with fabric fragments. While these individuals most likely date to a slightly different period from the “Iliad” mummy, the immense complexity of these rites implies a wealthy, status-conscious class, providing fresh insight into the spiritual anxieties of the Roman-era community.
A cultural passport
Recovered in December from Tomb 65, the fragmentary papyrus packet contains a passage from the 2,800-year-old “Iliad” that functions as a detailed inventory of the Achaean army’s naval strength and regional origins, describing the forces arrayed against Troy to retrieve Helen. The text mentions specific commanders, such as Guneus, who arrived with “two and twenty ships from Cyphus,” and Tlepolemus, a “son of Hercules” who brought nine ships from Rhodes.
Dr. Mascia’s findings reveal a deliberate, intimate act: a document prepared in a mummification workshop and placed directly upon the body of the deceased. “These sealed papyrus packets may have been regarded as part of an alternative funerary procedure,” she said, adding that further studies were essential to prove this hypothesis.
This spiritual first-aid follows a long tradition. Dr. Scalf noted that “The Greco-Egyptian Formularies” even suggests the “Iliad” doubled as a literal medical kit. For a bed-bound patient shivering with malaria, the prescription was simple: Brace your head against a papyrus scroll of Book 4 to break the fever.
For residents navigating the complex, vibrant crossroads of Roman Egypt, Greek literary papyri may have functioned as a crucial cultural passport, said Anna Dolganov, a historian at the Austrian Archaeological Institute. In Egypt, being Hellenic connoted an exclusive social status and financial privilege — and had to be meticulously documented through genealogies going back across several centuries.
Buried with the dead, the “Iliad” perhaps served as a cheat code for a more comfortable afterlife. Dr. Dolganov wonders if carrying the epic poem was a deliberate strategy to secure entry into the Greek underworld, effectively sidestepping the torturous trials of Egyptian mythology. For these individuals, a Hellenic identity wasn’t just for this world — it was an eternal upgrade, offering a smoother path and higher status in the great beyond.
Science
Ten times worse than benzene — California updates its science on two chemicals in everyday air
Two toxic contaminants present in California’s ambient air appear to be much stronger carcinogens than previously known, state environmental health officials announced Thursday.
The draft finding from the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment finds that acrolein and ethylene oxide may pose an estimated cancer risk more than 10 times higher than benzene, a serious carcinogen linked to leukemia and other cancers.
It is the first step in a review process before final risk values are adopted, and it arrives at a time federal air-quality regulations are being reined in.
“If the early air monitoring results bear out, and if the draft cancer values developed are close to what eventually becomes final, then each air contaminant poses an unacceptable cancer risk,” said Kris Thayer, OEHHA’s director.
The update reflects the state’s evolving understanding of its most dangerous pollutants, which has shifted over the decades from visible pollutants, such as smog, to more invisible ones that cause cancer, heart disease and other health harms.
It comes only two months after the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency moved to roll back standards on ethylene oxide, or EtO, in an effort to save millions of dollars in compliance costs for facilities that use the chemical for medical sterilization. The administration said it acted to “safeguard the supply of essential medical equipment,” but experts said the move will also expose more people to health risks.
It also follows a new national report from the American Lung Assn. that found 82% of Californians live in counties with unhealthful air, nearly double the national average.
“This is an important step to better understanding the harms of pollutants impacting Californians’ health,” said Will Barrett, assistant vice president for nationwide clean air policy at the American Lung Assn., who reviewed the state’s findings for The Times. “Following the latest available health science to determine risk is crucial to protecting health.”
Ethylene oxide is a colorless gas often used in the sterilization of medical devices, particularly those that can’t be cleaned using steam or radiation.
Acrolein can be formed when materials burn, such as cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vapes, wood, plastics and gasoline for cars, trucks, ships and aircraft. It can also be released by cooking fats and oils at high temperatures, and has been found in water produced by oil and gas operations and is an ingredient in some pesticides used in irrigation canals.
People can take steps to protect themselves from acrolein exposure in everyday life by avoiding smoking tobacco or using e-cigarettes and vaping products, avoiding smoke from fires or exhaust from diesel and gasoline vehicles and equipment — much of which can also help reduce exposure to ethylene oxide, officials said. When cooking with oils or fats, people should avoid very high temperatures and use a range hood fan when possible.
While both chemicals have been present in the state’s air for years, the new assessments from OEHHA are based on the latest science on health risks, officials said. Both acrolein and ethylene oxide were found to pose an estimated cancer risk exceeding 800 in 1 million — on par with the cancer risk that diesel exhaust was estimated to pose when it first emerged as a major public health concern in the 1990s, the agency said.
In response to the findings, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revision, released Thursday, includes $2.5 million in funding for the California Air Resources Board and OEHHA in support of research to help reduce people’s exposure to acrolein and ethylene oxide. The funding will help the state identify and track major sources of the chemicals and turn the findings into public health policy outcomes, officials said.
OEHHA’s assessment provides the first cancer risk value for acrolein since it was classified as probably cancer-causing to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2020. Ethylene oxide was already identified as a carcinogen by the state, but the new assessment updates its risk levels based on the new research. The risk calculations are based on air monitoring data, which vary across the state depending on location, nearby sources and other factors.
Officials said the findings underscore the state’s efforts to strengthen environmental protection measures for residents at a moment when federal officials seek to loosen them.
“Especially in light of some of the national rollbacks we’re seeing on protections for public health, it really underscores how important the work that we’re doing here in California is,” said Courtney Smith, principal deputy executive officer with the Air Resources Board. “Not only for protecting the health of Californians, but also to ensure that there is rigorous, solid science available to other entities as well who may want to pursue additional protections.”
Short-term exposure to EtO by inhalation can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue respiratory irritation and other adverse health effects, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Longer-term exposure increases the risk of cancers of the white blood cells, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as well as breast cancer.
Inhaling acrolein can cause nose and throat irritation and a decreased breathing rate. Chronic exposure, such as through cigarette smoke, has been linked to the development of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and respiratory cancers.
The findings also come as California continues to receive poor grades on air quality. The American Lung Assn. annual State of the Air report found that the five U.S. counties with the worst smog pollution are all in California. Bakersfield was the metropolitan area with the worst level of year-round particle pollution for the seventh year in a row, while Los Angeles was the city with the worst ozone pollution, as it has been for 26 of the last 27 years.
“Californians face the most significant smog and soot challenges in the nation, but our air agencies have followed the science to build policies and programs to make real headway,” Barrett said. The state’s latest assessment “speaks to the need for ongoing local efforts while the federal government ignores the science and opens the door for more pollution. California must continue to invest in things like cleaning up truck fleets, broader public education and the underlying science to guide policies to protect health.”
Thursday’s announcement kicks off a 45-day public comment period, after which the draft assessments may be revised before undergoing additional public comment, peer review by the state’s Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants, and eventual adoption.
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