WCAI: Environmental advocates plan to sue EPA, could lead to “Sludgement Day” on Cape Cod
CAI | By Brian Engles
Environmental advocates are planning to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not regulating sludge.
Sludge is the solid material that’s left over at the end of the wastewater treatment process.
Treated sludge, (biosolids), is used as a fertilizer, but it contains the harmful ‘forever chemicals’ PFAS, which don’t break down and have been linked with cancer.
In their recent Notice of Intent to Sue, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) claim the EPA have failed to protect groundwater and food supplies by not regulating biosolids.
The legal development could lead to EPA regulation of sludge, meaning more towns will be trying to get rid of theirs.
This is a problem Cape Cod is already dealing with, according to Barnstable County’s Wastewater Division Director Brian Baumgaertel.
Most of the Cape’s sludge is incinerated at a facility in Rhode Island, but Baumgaertel said the site is already oversubscribed.
Read/listen to the segment in its entirety at Environmental advocates plan to sue EPA, could lead to “Sludgement Day” on Cape Cod | CAI (capeandislands.org).
