SEWAGE SLUDGE APPLICATION IN FLORIDA
Biosolids are recovered from a sewage treatment process and used as fertilizer. During wastewater treatment, the liquids are separated from the solids. Every summer, we have a ban on fertilizer with nutrients that can feed harmful algae blooms but allow landowners to dump "Class B" waste as fertilizer. Sewage sludge contains a highly carried amount of organic chemicals, toxic metals, chemical irritants, and pathogens. There is an unknown amount of harmful toxins in these biosolids, including carcinogenic chemicals such as PFAS. A 2002 study by the University of Georgia found higher reports of ill-health symptoms and diseases near biosolids permitted fields. Spreading sewage sludge risks decades of environmental restorations to improve water quality. Map by: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Resource Management.