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Hazards of sludge on farmlands, gardens, etc.
For your info - Patricia Dines
P.S. Does anyone know if CCOF or other organic organizations have standards
against the use of "sludge"/"reclaimed wastewater" (which I've been told
can also have toxics left in it)?
--- FORWARD ---
From: Mike Ewall, INTERNET:mxe115@psu.edu
To: Patricia Dines, 73652,1202
To: Multiple recipients of list <dioxin-l@essential.org>
Date: Sun, Oct 20, 1996, 7:44 AM
Subject: National Sludge Alliance
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: CHARLOTTE HARMAN
National Sludge Alliance
518-329-2120
NATIONAL ALLIANCE IS FORMED
TO STOP THE SPREADING OF SEWAGE ON FARMLAND
The first National Sludge Roundtable was held July 20-21, 1996 at the
Holiday Hills Conference Center in Pawling, NY. Tina Daly, of
Phoenixville, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Network's Sludge Team
Co-Leader, attended. The meeting was convened to provide a forum for
concerned citizens, including farmers, abutters, and members of local
community groups, to raise concerns about the practice of spreading sewage
on land. Members in the groups took issue with the Environmental Protection
Agency's Policy of so-called "beneficial use" of sludge and discussed
reported problems with human and animal health as well as crop loss and
water contamination.
James Bynum of Laredo, TX, says: ". . . sewage sludge that meets the
beneficial use criteria cannot be placed in highly regulated part 503 (of
the Clean Water Act) surface disposal site because of the toxic heavy
metals limits." (Excerpt from a report prepared for the National
Roundtable entitled "Toxic Sludge is Safe for Your Food Says National
Academy of Science," July 1996)
"Hot fudge on vanilla ice cream? Maybe, once in a while, what the heck.
Toxic sludge on your gardens and croplands? No. Thanks anyway." (Excerpt
from the New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group News Letter" (1996)
written by conference attendee Steve Coffman, Dundee, NY).
People from eight states raised concerns that the financial plight of
farmers, as well as cities and towns, that dispose of large quantities of
waste materials, might be accelerating a practice that has not been proven
safe.
The group decided to form a national coalition: THE NATIONAL SLUDGE
ALLIANCE, which will:
- establish a national clearinghouse to collect and disseminate information
relating to disposal of sewage sludge, focusing especially on land
application and its problems
- formally request that EPA and the US Department of Agriculture 'label'
all foods and animal products grown on sewage sludge so that consumers can
choose whether or not they wish to eat those foods
- bring the public concerns to the attention of local farmers, food
processors and the American people, due to the possibility of sludge
causing permanent damage to irreplaceable farmland and the addition of
unsafe levels of contaminants in our food
- develop a plain English guide to the terms and definitions used by
government regulators and the waste disposal industry. For example, sewage
sludge (biosolids) is now a fertilizer or soil amendment that is being
promoted as safe for use in home gardens and on food crops yet is defined
by the Harper-Collins Dictionary of Environmental Science as "Sludge-a
viscous, semi-solid mixture of bacteria and virus-laden organic matter,
toxic metals, synthetic organic chemicals and settled solids removed from
domestic and industrial waste water at a sewage treatment plant."
Tina Daly reported on the work of the Pennsylvania Environmental Network's
Sludge Team.
PEN has produced a SLUDGE ADVISORY for Pennsylvanians which discusses the
many problems of using sewage sludge as a fertilizer. Copies are available
for interested citizens, farmers, landowners, mortgage lenders, decision
makers and all others.
For more information please contact the National Sludge Alliance at PO Box
130, Copake, NY 12516
The Pennsylvania Environmental Network's homepage is at:
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/pen