B.C. government blasted for 'ultimate hypocrisy' over PFAS and sewage sludge

Written By Peter Allan

Advocates are calling on B.C. to ban the use of sewage sludge as a fertilizer on fields and forests because it can contaminate the soil with toxic chemicals like PFAS. Photo by Jesse Winter/National Observer

By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson

The B.C. government’s lawsuit over the health impact of so-called “forever chemicals” is now shining a questionable light on the province’s effort to also overturn one of Canada’s only bans on toxic sewage sludge applied to fields and forests.

"It is the ultimate hypocrisy," said Adam Olsen, an MLA for the B.C. Green party.

Sewage sludge, or biosolids, is the solid matter produced after sewage is dried and treated for bacterial contamination. While applying sewage waste to fields and forests is a cheap way to dispose of it, there is growing alarm the practice is polluting soils and drinking water with dangerous PFAS or per-fluoroakyll substances chemicals.

In the U.S. recently, Maine closed hundreds of farms because their soils were contaminated with PFAS from biosolids applied to fields decades ago. The crisis was large enough to push the state to ban outdoor application of biosolids entirely, joining countries like Germany.

PFAS are a class of thousands of chemicals used in everything from cosmetics to clothing to firefighting foam. They do not break down in nature, are now found in the blood of over 98 per cent of Canadians, and cause health problems like cancer and endocrine system disruptions.

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Peter Allan
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