First, toxic “forever chemicals” permeated half of the country’s water supply, now they contaminate America’s food supply.
Farmers and ranchers in Grandview, Texas, have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), alleging that their property, livelihoods, and health have been harmed by “forever chemicals” contamination in sewage sludge spread on a neighbor’s property.
Sewage sludge, or ‘biosolids’, is the solid waste filtered from wastewater treatment plants.
The lawsuit noted that sewage sludge includes chemicals discharged in industrial wastewater and everything sent down the drains of homes and businesses, from human excrement flushed down toilets to materials exiting via utility sinks, laundry machines, and dishwashers.
Wastewater treatment facilities are allowed to sell sewage sludge as fertilizer but must first treat it to remove pathogens and certain toxic contaminants identified by EPA.
The plaintiffs sued, alleging that the EPA failed to identify certain PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as toxic pollutants present in sewage sludge and failed to regulate certain PFAS for which ample information exists that necessitates regulation. The EPA “currently imposes no limits on any PFAS in sewage sludge,” read the complaint, filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) on June 6.
PFAS or “forever chemicals” are a category of chemicals used since the 1940s to repel oil and water and resist heat, which makes them useful in everyday products, according to the EPA. Some PFAS do not easily degrade and can bioaccumulate—or build up—in the environment and the human body over time, resulting in potential adverse health impacts.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, wrote two landmark books, “How To Eat To Live,” Books 1 and 2. In book 1, in the chapter “Little Pure Food on Market,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad warns about the experiments Whites conduct that impact the food supply.
“This race of people experiments on everything other than good. This includes what they grow and prepare for us to eat. There is very little pure food on the market today.
And, there will not be any pure food on the market tomorrow, if they prepare it for you because they are experimenting on your life to see what can take you away and what they can keep you here with for a certain length of time,” he writes in part.
In the same chapter, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad continues, “The earth brings forth good food the natural way, but the food is poisoned by other ways. The fertilization process they use and the preservatives are all poisonous.
They know in their limited time of six thousand years to rule that they are experimenting on themselves and us, too. Even the very earth is poisoned where they are experimenting on growing food for their markets, because it is the almighty dollar they seek and not the almighty health and long life for you and me.”
His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, spoke on the importance of proper cooking and the proper intake of properly raised food.
“That is why we have to own land; that is why the land that we get: We have to purify that land from all the poisons and chemicals that the former landowner put in it. And that can be done because the science of ‘how to do it’ is with us!” the Minister stated in part 31 of his 2013, 58-week lecture series, “The Time and What Must Be Done.”
Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad is the manager of the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Farms in Georgia and is a Ph.D. in agricultural economics. He explained that using (treated) human or animal waste as fertilizer in agriculture is a usable method but, in the past, municipal waste came from people who ate cleaner and healthier food, and their waste was not filled with these forever chemicals.
“So, if the people were eating naturally, without a bunch of pills, a bunch of cosmetics, that have these forever chemicals in them, and did not have (these things) through their homes, that therefore gets it washed out into the sewage—if that was composted, that would be great fertilizer, if it was not already contaminated. And that’s the problem,” he stated.
According to Dr. Muhammad, the whole system is so contaminated with these artificial chemicals, including some medicines, which are mere replicas of what’s found in nature.
One other solution is for people to help farmers naturally fertilize and control weeds, as was traditionally done in the past, he said.
He explained that previously, animals and crops rotated, meaning animals grazed and fertilized the soil that the crops grew in. But now, cattle are kept in feedlots, are fed antibiotics to survive unnatural conditions and walk in their own waste. This contamination spreads through their meat, feces, and into the environment, introducing harmful chemicals into the soil and food system.
“We have a set of cumulative impacts that are happening inside of our communities that impact our health, so when we see a set of science that is growing, that talks about another set of chemicals, these forever chemicals now also play a role in the cancers, the liver and kidney diseases that we see inside of our community.
It becomes quite apparent that we’ve got to make sure that our regulating bodies and corporations are doing everything they can to get these chemicals out of our water and out of our food, because we continue to be hit first and worst,” stated Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice at the EPA.
“Our bodies, our land, our water—none of these were ever meant to be disposable. Yet the poison of PFAS flows through our communities like an unspoken violence, rendering our food toxic, our water dangerous, and our lives expendable in the eyes of those who profit from our suffering,” Dr. Ali said.
“Black bodies and vulnerable populations have long been the targets of destruction, forced to live in sacrifice zones where silence is demanded. However, silence has never served us,” Dr. Ali told The Final Call.
Dr. Ali emphasized the cumulative health impacts on non-White communities, linking these chemicals to cancers and liver and kidney diseases. He highlighted the historical environmental racism, where Black, Indigenous and Latino communities have been exposed to dangerous toxins like lead and volatile organic compounds.
He also advocated for education and tracking systems to inform the public about these chemicals and stressed the importance of traditional, non-toxic farming methods.
“We must rise not just to survive, but to heal and reclaim what is sacred,” he said. “Our fight for clean air, untainted water, and healthy soil is essential for our very existence. By healing our environment, we heal ourselves, and this labor of love is our collective power. We are not powerless—we are the architects of our own survival, and together, we will dismantle the systems that have poisoned us.”
According to Clean Water Action, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and environmental justice organization, founded during the campaign to pass the 1972 Clean Water Act, PFAS pollution has been documented at 94 sites in 22 states (including industrial plants, military bases, airports and fire training sites) and in the tap water of up to 16 million people in 33 states.
According to the recent lawsuit, since a neighbor’s property was spread with sewage sludge in Nov. 2022, two of the plaintiffs, James Farmer and Robin Alessi’s soil and surface water have become polluted with exceedingly high levels of PFAS, the presence of which has no other conceivable explanation.
The lawsuit alleges they have suffered medical issues that may be linked to PFAS exposure, including high blood pressure, respiratory and cardiac issues, generalized pain, and skin irritations. In addition, they have many farm animals and household pets that died following the land application of the sewage sludge.
These include two active dogs, a family cat, two previously healthy horses, a newborn bull calf, fish in their stock ponds (catfish, perch, bass, and minnow that died of no apparent cause), and several types of birds that died with no apparent wounds or other apparent cause of death: peacocks, ducks, chickens, guineas, and cranes.
Their cats and dogs appear to be suffering from new medical issues. The animals that died as well as the animals that are sick drank/drink well water or pond water directly, and some of them grazed/graze off the pastures and ate/eat hay grown on the property.
“There are no national requirements to test sewage sludge for PFAS or warn farmers that they could be using contaminated sludge. This is an urgent and pervasive problem,” states the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs have asked the court to declare that the EPA has violated both the Clean Water Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to timely identify and regulate specific PFAS listed in the complaint and in sewage sludge; and order EPA to complete its mandatory duties expeditiously pursuant to deadlines established by the court.
On Sep. 4, the EPA announced over $15 million in research grant funding to 10 institutions for research to reduce PFAS exposure in food and protect national farmlands and farming communities, according to a news release.
“Farming communities are the lifeblood of this nation,” said Christopher Frey, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The research supported by these grants will increase our knowledge of how PFAS is impacting our farmlands and food supply and help ensure our farming communities stay viable for years to come.”
Research teams funded by the EPA will investigate topics including how PFAS accumulates in crops and livestock; the effects of biosolids, compost and irrigation water on PFAS plant uptake and accumulation; and strategies to reduce the risks of PFAS contamination in the food supply.
The following institutions have been selected for funding awards: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; Passamaquoddy Tribe, Sipayik Environmental Department, Pleasant Point, Maine; Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas;
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas; University at Albany, State University of New York Albany, NY; University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.; University of Maine, Orono, Maine; University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; and, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
“PFAS are associated with a wide range of risks to human and animal health such as cancer, hormone disruption, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, developmental and reproductive harm, changes in serum lipid levels, increased cholesterol and risk of obesity, and immune system toxicity.
“We have an opportunity in this moment to help to protect people’s lives, to help them to be healthier, and to make sure that the next set of generations don’t have to carry these burdens,” said Dr. Ali.
