29-04-2025
One legislator blocks bill to prevent dumping sewage on farmland
Kenton Patzkowsky, R-Balko, is the Oklahoma state representative for District 61, the largest and most rural of the state's districts. He states that his 'legislative priorities include the protection and sustainability of Oklahoma agriculture.' However, this noble sentiment is belied by his recent actions in the 2025 Oklahoma legislative session. Before we get to specifics of this charge, some background information is needed.
More: As officials consider 'forever chemical' regulation, see where PFAS is found in Oklahoma
A bill, Senate Bill 3, submitted in the current legislative session would have placed a moratorium on the application of biosolids (solids separated from the liquid waste stream at sewage processing plants) onto farmlands. So what's the concern here? For decades, farmers across America have been encouraged by the federal government and state officials to spread municipal sewage on millions of acres of farmland as fertilizer. Converting sewage to fertilizer saves cities money on landfill costs, is a cheaper nutrient-rich fertilizer for farmers, and has become a billion-dollar industry for a handful of companies.
We now know, though, that sewage sludge isn't a green plant food. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it harbors a mishmash of all kinds of dangerous substances that leach into soil, plants, water and even the food we eat, including:
Heavy metals such as lead, copper and mercury.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which can harm our reproductive systems, suppress our immune systems, and increase our risk of cancer.
Microplastics, which spread the various chemicals added to plastic, such as flame retardants and endocrine disruptors.
And most concerning, sludge is a huge conveyor of PFAS, known as 'forever chemicals,' because of their longevity. They are linked to a range of serious health problems, including increased risk of certain cancers, thyroid disease, liver damage, immune system effects and reproductive issues.
According to Investigate Midwest, more than 80% of Oklahoma's wastewater sludge ends up on crop fields. Presently, there are no viable means to remove PFAS from sludge at scale or to remediate the farm soils that sludge contaminates.
So let's return to SB 3. It passed the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on a nonpartisan basis and moved to the Senate chamber for a vote. The Senate passed the measure overwhelmingly with 44 votes 'For' and only 4 votes 'Opposed.' Then the bill went to the House Agriculture Committee for consideration. Here is where Rep. Patzkowsky enters the picture. As chairman of the committee, he serves as a gatekeeper and has the discretion to either put a bill on the committee's agenda for a vote or not. If he decides not to put the bill on the agenda, the bill does not receive a vote and dies in committee. His decision was to kill the bill.
More: What can we do about 'forever chemicals' in Oklahoma's drinking water? | Opinion
There is certainly an issue here as to whether a state representative in a district with a population of about 37,500 should be in a position to obstruct legislation that could affect 4 million Oklahomans. We can also play armchair psychologist and question why Rep.e Patzkowsky would potentially put his constituents, indeed, all Oklahomans, in harm's way. Perhaps he is simply uninformed about what science says about the dangers of biosolids. Perhaps he feels beholden to Synagro, a company that handles much of the biosolid material produced by Oklahoma City's wastewater system and turns it into fertilizer for farms and money for shareholders. We will probably never know.
What we do know is that Rep. Patzkowsky knowingly or unknowingly has put the health of Oklahomans and the environment at risk. Regarding his stated priority of 'the protection and sustainability of Oklahoma agriculture,' there will be at least one more year of poisoning farmlands, livestock, crops. Another year of PFAS infiltrating ground, surface and drinking water supplies. Further out, there will be law suits, condemnation of farmland, medical costs entailed by affected farming families.
For a glimpse of that future, look no further than Johnson County, Texas, when on Feb. 11, 2025, it declared a state of disaster due to PFAS contamination on agricultural land. The county says test results showed an 'immediate threat to the county's agricultural sector, drinking water supplies, and public health.' Farmers in Johnson County, who said they were no longer able to make a living off their land due to the contamination, have filed lawsuits against the EPA and Synagro.
Concern is increasing across the nation regarding biosolids contamination in general and PFAS in particular. The Johnson County situation is being closely watched nationwide as some of the first litigation involving fertilizer PFAS contamination. Let's hope Rep. Patzkowsky is also paying close attention.
(Editor's Note: The Oklahoman requested, but did not receive, a response to this columnist's viewpoint from Rep. Patzkowsky.)
Mike Altshuler is a retired educator and environmental activist who lives in Edmond.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: A missed opportunity to halt farm sewage dumping | Opinion
