Who qualifies

UPDATED FEB 2026

PFAS Biosolids Farm Contamination Lawsuit

Part of the PFAS Water Contamination investigation

The short answer

PFAS-contaminated biosolids (sewage sludge) spread as agricultural fertilizer have contaminated private wells and farmland across the United States — a largely invisible exposure pathway that is only now reaching litigation. Affected farmers, rural homeowners, and farmworkers in Maine, Iowa, Michigan, and Texas have active claims.

This is one of the least-covered and fastest-growing fronts in PFAS litigation.

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What Are PFAS-Contaminated Biosolids?

Biosolids are the solid material remaining after wastewater treatment — essentially treated sewage sludge that municipalities produce in enormous quantities. For decades, wastewater treatment plants have sold or given away biosolids to farmers as a nutrient-rich agricultural fertilizer. The problem: because PFAS are present in the wastewater stream from household products, industrial discharge, and firefighting foam, wastewater treatment plants that are not equipped to remove PFAS produce biosolids that concentrate PFAS to levels far above those found in the water supply. When these PFAS-laden biosolids are spread on farmland, PFAS leach through the soil and contaminate groundwater and private drinking wells. Farmers who grew food in PFAS-contaminated soil may have had PFAS in their vegetables and livestock in addition to their well water — creating a multiplied exposure pathway.

Where Biosolids PFAS Contamination Has Caused the Most Harm

Maine has emerged as the epicenter of the biosolids PFAS contamination crisis. In 2019 and 2020, Maine testing revealed that farms across the state had received PFAS-contaminated biosolids for years — some private wells on Maine farms showed PFAS levels in the hundreds or thousands of parts per trillion. The Stoneridge Farm case in Fairfield, Maine became the first nationally publicized biosolids PFAS contamination incident. Iowa has multiple confirmed biosolids PFAS contamination sites, including farms in Johnson County where families sued over PFAS contamination of their private wells in 2024. Michigan has documented biosolids PFAS contamination in the western part of the state. Texas saw a significant biosolids PFAS lawsuit in 2024 involving Johnson County farm families. Because private wells are not subject to the same testing requirements as public water systems, many rural biosolids contamination sites remain undiscovered.

Who Can File Biosolids PFAS Claims

Biosolids PFAS contamination claims may be available to: farm families who consumed private well water contaminated by PFAS-laden biosolids applied to their or neighboring farmland; farmworkers with significant soil and dust exposure on farms with PFAS-contaminated biosolids history; rural homeowners near farms where PFAS biosolids were applied; and dairy farmers and livestock producers whose animals consumed PFAS-contaminated water and grass. The legal theories in biosolids PFAS cases target the same PFAS manufacturers (3M, DuPont/Chemours) for creating PFAS that entered the waste stream, as well as wastewater utilities and biosolids distributors who spread known or unknowing contaminated material. Qualifying diagnoses are the same as in other PFAS exposure pathways: kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, and other PFAS-linked conditions.

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The full investigation

Part of the PFAS Water Contamination Investigation