(Long Article) Sludge-fertilizing farm land with Sewage!

[Guest guest]

I found this and many meat industry related articles here...

//www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/animalnet/

What makes me worry is - how do we know who is using sludge? Is in used for

" organic " foods? Are we eating foods grown from human waste and other

flushables? Yecht!

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THE REAL DIRT ON SLUDGE: THE PRACTICE OF FERTILIZING FARM LAND WITH SEWAGE

SLUDGE HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MORE THAN A QUARTER-CENTURY BUT, DESPITE THE

CONCERN OF CRITICS, NO EVIDENCE OF ILLNESS OR DISEASE HAS BEEN REPORTED IN

ONTARIO

November 1, 2000

The Expositor (Brantford)

C1 / Front

Richard Beales With files by Michael-Allan Marion

PARIS - According to this story, sewage sludge, the stinky mass left over at

wastewater treatment plants after the larger chunks have been removed for

landfilling, is a distasteful product.

Larry Davis, the county's representative with the Ontario Federation of

Agriculture

was cited as saying the practice of spreading sludge on farmers' fields is

particularily

widespread in Brant County, estimating that about ``60 or 70'' of Brant

County's 500 or so farms have contracts with haulers to deliver the

nitrogen-rich sludge compounds to about 7,000 acres of their land, from St.

George and Paris wastewater treatment facilities.

The story says that Elmira-based Raydel Agri-Services holds most of the

contracts, with others handled by Azurix North America Residuals Management

Corporation's

Hamilton-area office.

Davis himself, the story says, plans to use sludge on a farming operation he

rents on

Pleasant Ridge road; he's had his soil tested by the Ministry of Environment

and has been approved for application. As an OFA representative he knows

many producers who are already using it.

Farmer Sheila Weatherston was cited as saying she won't touch the stuff

because of its environmental effects, adding, ``Compared to cow manure,

people have a lot more disease.We don't put sludge on‹we don't believe in

it. Nobody can guarantee

what bacteria is still in that, or metals.''

The story says that sludge-spreading is a regulated activity. The Guidelines

for the Utilization of Biosolids and Other Wastes on Agricultural Land, a

1996 document issued

jointly by the ministries of environment and agriculture, sets out strict

limits for 14 toxic metals in sludge‹or ``biosolids,'' a friendlier name

adopted in 1991 after a contest run by the U.S. sewage lobby‹before it is

allowed for use on farmland.

John Cooke, the Ministry of Environment area supervisor for Guelph District,

which takes in this area, was quoted as saying, ``We know what the typical

levels of metals are in Ontario soils. They have then determined what an

acceptable

level would be in soil, where there shouldn't be any toxic symptoms, and

have calculated how much can be added. The limiting factor is that the

sludge has to meet the metals ratios in the guidelines.''

The story says critics insist the potential is there for chemical

toxification of our

groundwater, through either heavy metals or bacteria, including E. coli

0157:H7.

But that presumes the screening process of the Ministry of Environment is

faulty. Experts were cited as saying standards are high in Ontario and, to

date, there have

been no reported health problems due to the use of sludge on the province's

farmland.

The OFA's Davis was cited as saying ignorance of the latest agricultural

processes and regulations is keeping the public from understanding that

proper sewage sludge handling is a safe and profitable practice, adding,

``You have to remember, farmers feel sewage sludge is a public problem, not

a farmer problem. It comes from the city and we're asked to take it.''

Davis says sewage sludge can be handled safely and effectively if it's

incorporated into an overall nutrient management program which the

provincial and Brant County federations are promoting.

Like its precursor, the environmental farm plan program, the agriculture

industry and farm groups are, the story says, avidly promoting a nutrient

management program in which producers take a course that helps them draw up

a management

strategy that includes all nutrients, including sludge, manure and chemical

fertilizers.

Farmers learn the flows of nutrients, their habits, how to use them in

association with on-farm drainage patterns and how to keep it all a closed

system. The course culminates in a nutrient management certificate.

Davis is backed up by Les Evans, an environmental chemist at the University

of Guelph, who was cited as saying concerns of polluting the groundwater

from sludge are groundless, adding, ``It's not allowed on land that is

acidic, not where the pH value is

below 6.''

The story explains that before sludge is allowed out of the water treatment

plants where it is created, it must pass a series of tests and, according to

the 1996 guidelines, will be screened for non-biodegradable constituents.

Maureen Reilly, an environmental researcher with the Uxbridge Conservation

Association, was cited as saying sewage sludge is supposed to be applied

only once every

five years and theoretically, if it's applied in low rates it can be applied

more frequently, but that's not cost-effective.

However, Raydel's general manager, Delfred Weber, begs to differ.

He says more than once a year is safe practice.

 

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