‘A battle of the scientific experts’: PFAS research at centre of Texas farms lawsuit contested

As a criminal investigation continues into what sickened farmers in a Texas county and killed their fish and livestock, the fertiliser and biosolids management company that has been blamed has commissioned its own lab analysis that it claims absolves the firm of responsibility.

The case, which began in late December 2022, involves the death of hundreds of fish, cattle and horses on farmland in Johnson County, Texas, that is adjacent to Grandview farm, where Synagro Granulite fertiliser was applied. Dana Ames, an environmental crimes investigator with Johnson County who is leading the criminal investigation, collected samples of the fertiliser, soil, pond water, well water, as well as fish and animal tissue, from the two farms near Grandview for analysis and found that they were contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl and substances (PFAS).