According to a recent article from FingerLakes1.com, "NY regulators take ‘see-no-evil’ stance on evidence sewage sludge and effluent is contaminated with PFAS" by Peter Mantius, New York dairy farmers are having to dispose of contaminated milk due PFAS found in the soil and hay that cows use and eat due to the spreading of sludge on fields.
According to the article, "More than 600 plants discharge the effluent into the state’s public waterways, and their residual human waste sludge is often spread on crop fields or mixed with compost — never with any check for PFAS."
Other states, such as Maine, that are experiencing the same issues have proposed bills to ban field spreading of sludge to counter this problem. New York representatives are starting to take notice and are proposing legislation that would add requirements for waste water treatment plants to test for PFAS.
According to the article, "New York’s 612 POTWs (publicly-owned wastewater plants)... generated a total of 374,110 dry tons of leftover sewage sludge or biosolids. More than two-thirds of that sludge was sent to landfills (68 percent), while 16 percent was incinerated."
EPA regulations around PFAS removal are likely to tighten in the coming years. There is an opportunity to incinerate more of this waste and remove PFAS. If needed Multiple Hearth Furnaces can be adjusted to reach temperatures that will remove PFAS in sludge.