Farmers Say Toxic Sludge Destroyed Their Land – Now They’re Suing the Federal Gov’t

For more than a year, we’ve been investigating what’s happening to family farms across the country and the growing concerns over toxic chemicals farmers say are contaminating their land, water and livelihoods. Now, one of those families is at the center of a federal lawsuit accusing the government of failing to protect farmers nationwide.

About 30 miles outside of Fort Worth, in Johnson County, we gazed across a sprawling Texas ranch. It was Patsy Schultz’s legacy.

Her daughter, Karen, and son-in-law, Tony Coleman, say that future is gone.

The Colemans trace the devastation back to what was spread near their property: sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, a byproduct of wastewater treatment commonly used as fertilizer on farmland.

They believe that sludge was contaminated with PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — often called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment. Scientific studies have linked PFAS exposure to cancer, liver damage, immune system effects and developmental problems.