Everything is bigger in Texas! Including the poop.
In Van Zandt County, Texas, a local rancher has decided to play chemist. Not in a fun Breaking Bad way, but more of a "what happens if we use human waste as fertilizer" kind of way.
He's just your average American with 200 acres and a smelly dream. He filed a request with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to spread "biosolids" on his land. And yes, "biosolids" is a fancy word for sewage.
His neighbors are less than happy.
On July 25th, residents packed a public hearing to let their feelings be known.
"How would you feel if this was in your backyard?" asked County Commissioner Wendy Spivey, probably while giving the stink eye to everyone within a five-mile radius.
(Or maybe pink eye?)
Then there's Scott Tuley, another commissioner, who's not pulling any punches.
"This chemical is toxic," he declared. "I stand with the ranchers, the farmers, the homeowners, and people in this room and ask you to deny this permit on the basis of all forever chemicals are toxic and not needed in rural Texas."
These "forever chemicals," or PFAS, are like that guest who comes over for tea and just … never leaves. Except instead of being annoying, they're carcinogenic and find their way into the water, food, and eventually, you.
You'd think TCEQ would have arrived and shut down the idea. Nope. At the meeting, they said that the permit had been approved, and that under current Texas regulations, they don't have the capacity to test for PFAS.
What a crudshow.
According to Denali Water Solutions, one of the companies behind this particular plan, this has nothing to do with money.
"We are being paid by the generators of the residuals to haul it away and spread it, but we're not paying, and he's not paying us to receive it, and we're not paying him," said a representative.
Locals are knuckling down and pushing back, demanding that the permit be put on ice until the EPA can verify that this operation won't poison everything within reach. One resident, Chris Morris, pointed out that there's a giant aquifer under 10 miles outside of town.
"You can't guarantee that the aquifer won't be poisoned by this stuff you are going to put on the ground," he said, echoing the concerns of every sane person in the room.
What's amazing here is that this isn't even the first time something like this has happened in Texas. Over in Johnson County, ranchers are already knee-deep in a similar mess … literally.
Cows, horses, fish? Dead.
Land? Contaminated.
Lawsuits? Filed.
Gives a whole new meaning to "don't mess with Texas," doesn't it?
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