"“Off spec” liquid from Winston Weaver fertilizer fire that was applied on a nearby farm field contained toxic PFAS."

"WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Perhaps it was rain dripping through one of the many holes in the roof that condensed the ammonium nitrate into a potentially explosive cake.

Or maybe it was an electrical short, like the one that had occurred a month earlier, igniting a pile of fertilizer.

Regardless of the cause, on the evening of Jan. 31, 2022, the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant caught fire.

For the first two hours of a week-long siege, Winston-Salem firefighters inundated the plant with more than a half million gallons of water as they furiously tried to prevent 600 tons of ammonium nitrate — stored in wooden buildings and a rail car near a residential area — from exploding.

Meanwhile, contractors hired by Winston Weaver built a berm to contain the fire water runoff and prevent it from entering a nearby creek, according to fire officials. And for good reason: The runoff — shipped to a dairy as “off spec liquid fertilizer” and spread on fields — was later found to contain a goulash of dozens of chemicals, including toxic PFAS."

Lisa Sorg reports for Inside Climate News April 16, 2025. [2]