Johnson County’s newest state representative, Helen Kerwin, R-Cleburne, filed her first bill Friday targeting an environmental problem that has struck her county: PFAS contamination in sewage sludge-based fertilizers.
Kerwin said House Bill 1674, could reduce the presence of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in Texas farms and ranches that use fertilizers made from treated sewage. PFAS, often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down and can persist in water and soil indefinitely, are known to cause serious health and environmental risks.
Kerwin said she filed the bill after Johnson County farmers sued a fertilizer company, alleging that PFAS-contaminated fertilizer made from municipal waste poisoned their land, killed their livestock, and left them unable to sell anything produced on their farms…