Water utility flags Senate Bill 3, PFAS concerns and costs if land-application of biosolids is banned

City water utility staff told the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust that Senate Bill 3 would ban land application of biosolids in Oklahoma, a change staff warned could cause near-term operational and cost impacts for the utility.

Director Browning briefed the trustees during his general manager’s report. He said the utility currently uses about 11,000 acres for land application of biosolids and that the system produces “almost 400 tons a day.” Browning said the utility has been monitoring PFOS levels in biosolids and that concentrations at the city’s application sites are in parts per billion; by contrast, Browning said the Environmental Protection Agency’s health-based value for PFOS in drinking water is 4 parts per trillion, a metric for direct-consumption water that staff said does not translate directly to land-application risk.

Browning told trustees the EPA…