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Committee weighs moratorium on land application of sewage sludge as PFAS concerns spread
Summary
Environmental advocates and county boards told the Planning, Energy and Environmental Quality Committee that PFAS and other contaminants in sewage sludge (biosolids) can persist in soil, enter food chains and drinking water; speakers urged local study and possible moratorium while state action is pursued.
On Sept. 5, 2025, the Planning, Energy and Environmental Quality Committee heard a detailed presentation on contamination risks from land application of sewage sludge (also called biosolids) and discussed whether Tompkins County should seek a temporary moratorium while more data is gathered.
Claire Walsh Winsler, director of food, agricultural and land use at Environmental Advocates New York, told the committee that biosolids can carry a range of contaminants — industrial solvents, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, heavy metals and PFAS "forever chemicals" — and that these substances can move from amended soil into crops, into livestock and into surface and groundwater. "PFAS accumulate in the milk, the beef, the chicken," Walsh Winsler said, and they noted instances in other jurisdictions where land application has led to drinking‑water contamination and…
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