Compost piles are prepped for screening at the Tulare Lake Compost plant. Researchers say that natural fertilizers created from sewage sludge are an increasing source of wind-blown microplastics.

A successful legal fight from residents banned sludge for two decades. The threat of a new legal fight is bringing it back.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time: Compost the sludge from the Hoosac Water Quality District by mixing in woodchips, then use it as a fertilizer for local projects or sell to others to do so ...