The League of Women Voters of Charlottesville Area hosted Don't Spread On Me, an organization that works with conservation groups and community members at the local, county, and state levels to advocate for changes in the policy and practice of applying treated sewage sludge to farmland, for a presentation and community dialogue on the use of biosolid sludge containing PFAS as fertilizer on farms and forests. 

Biosolids—treated sewage sludge applied to farmland as fertilizer—has been shown to contain PFAS ("forever chemicals") and other contaminants. PFAS bioaccumulate, magnify up the food chain, do not break down in the environment, and are hazardous to human and environmental health. Land application can contaminate soil, surface and ground water.

Stuart Overbey, founder of Don't Spread on Me and resident of a small farm in southern Albemarle County spoke on this important topic. Overbey's professional background includes marketing and design, journalism, and video production. She had planned to retire from computer work to focus on market gardening and artistic pursuits, but those plans changed when a nearby farm applied treated sewage sludge across hundreds of acres.

In response, Overbey organized concerned neighbors and helped created Don't Spread on Me, an organization that works with conservation groups and community members at the local, county, and state levels to advocate for changes in the policy and practice of applying treated sewage sludge to farmland.