Food Rights Network

Sewage Sludge in the News

• Gallatin, Tennessee Issues $10 Million in Bonds to be Funded by Revenues from Selling Treated Sewage Sludge as Fertilizer: “The city currently has to pay to have its sewage sludge hauled off, but with the new plant, the sludge will be treated and processed into nutrient-rich organic material called biosolids that are promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency for use as fertilizer” (Tennessean, 12/20). Warning, Tennesseans! Sewage sludge is toxic. Food should not be grown in “biosolids.” As the new Sludge Blog points out in its most recent post (12/20) about Washington, DC’s sludge being spread on Virginia farms, “It is absurd to believe that the material removed from the wastewater at sewage plants simply needs a bit of zapping and then it’ll be fine. The process in the works at Blue Plains, a $400 million upgrade from Class B to Class A biosolids, will make sludge supposedly ‘safe enough to put in your mouth — though it’s not encouraged’ because the new Class A biosolids won’t contain pathogens that can sicken humans and animals. The pathogens are definitely a problem. But so are heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, radioactive waste, flame-retardants; the list of modern American inventions that end up in the drains goes on and on” (emphasis added).
• Sludge Spill in Three Rivers, Michigan: A hose break yesterday within the fenced area of the Clean Water Plant (wastewater treatment plant) in Three Rivers, Michigan, resulted in a spill of 300 gallons of treated human and industrial sewage sludge over about 50 square feet, caused by failed/faulty equipment. According to the plant director, “The discharge did not enter any storm water structures, was immediately cleaned up with a vacuum truck, and disinfected with sodium-hypochlorite granules” (River Country Journal, 12/20). (more…)

Leave a Comment December 21, 2011

Sludge Industry Reveals “Resource Recovery” Spin

The Water Environment Federation (WEF), the sewage sludge industry trade group that invented the Orwellian PR euphemism “biosolids” for toxic sludge in 1991, is now “rebranding” sewage treatment plants as “water resource recovery facilities.” The PR spin conveniently glosses over the toxic sewage sludge removed from the water and then heated and dumped on land for crops and grazing as “fertilizer” or misleadingly called “compost.” The toxins in sludge can then bioaccumulate in the meat and dairy we eat and be taken up by the food plants that feed us. (more…)

Leave a Comment December 15, 2011

Sewage Sludge in the News

• British Columbia Residents Blockade Sludge Trucks: On December 9, a group of Salmon Valley, British Columbia residents blockaded (250 News, 12/9) the first sludge truck that aimed to spread City of Prince George human and industrial waste on neighboring farmlands. The City is considering a court injunction against the protesting residents, but so far the truck has not returned. Stay tuned for more on this story from the Food Rights Network.
• Hinkley, California Sludge Facility Sanctioned by Judge: A Hinkley plant that would process Barston, California’s human and industrial waste has received judicial approval of the company’s environmental impact report (Victorville Daily Press, 12/12). According to the local press, “Bob Conaway, Hinkley resident and member of HelpHinkley.org, said the group opposes the plant due to the environmental and community impacts the facility will have on the Hinkley community. Conaway explained the group’s biggest concerns are with odor, wind and water supply, among others. Each of these matters are addressed in the company’s EIR, which has been under legal scrutiny these six years. Conaway said he felt the information given to the judge in this case was inaccurate or incomplete, though he’s not sure what the group’s next steps will be.”

Leave a Comment December 14, 2011

Sewage Sludge in the News

• Three Florida Utilities Penalized for Improperly Disposing of Sewage Sludge: According to the Florida Independent (12/6), the facilities were penalized for “failing to provide biosolids reports and/or otherwise failing to comply with Section 503 of the CWA covering requirements for land disposal of sewage sludge.” Utilities in Plantation, Lake City and Starke “were each fined $900 for their failure to comply.”
• Toledo, Ohio Opts to Spread More Contaminated Sludge: According to the industry publication American Recycler (Dec. 2011), “N-Viro International Corporation (NVIC) announced that after 22 years of providing the City of Toledo with a Class A biosolids program, Toledo City Council with an 8 to 3 vote chose a Class B blending and disposal option. The decision provides for approximately 50,000 wet tons of Class B biosolids to be dumped and blended on a 70 acre site located within a Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) within the Maumee Bay at the westernmost point of Lake Erie.” There were strong objections to this choice because of the potential for environmental damage. NVIC CEO/President Timothy R. Kasmoch also criticized the decision, remarking, “A well managed Class B program can be beneficial. I do not believe this is a well managed program. In fact I believe this decision is completely detrimental to the health and welfare of the Maumee Bay and Lake Erie because of the potential of pathogen leaching and phosphorus contamination resulting in elevated toxic algae growth. . . . In my opinion, the City of Toledo moved its biosolids program in the opposite direction in one hasty decision.” (more…)

Leave a Comment December 7, 2011

Sewage Sludge in the News

• “Dark Soil: Ending the Land Application of Biosolids In America”: A great article that stands for itself (Jason Fowler, Sustainable Traditions, 11/30). Please read!
• “Montreal’s storm drains ‘widely contaminated’ with sewage, researchers conclude after finding caffeine traces”: According to the National Post (11/28), “After testing 120 brooks, collectors and outfalls in Montreal, researchers discovered that samples containing human urine and feces were also lightly caffeinated. Their conclusion: If there’s an abundance of caffeine in the water, ‘it means you have a leaky sewage pipe somewhere,’ lead researcher Sébastien Sauvé told the Post on Monday.” (Thank you to Maureen Reilly of Sludgewatch for highlighting this article.)
• At Sludge Corporations’ Request, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) Allows “Land Application” of “Biosolids” “Within 100 Feet of Streams”: According to the ANRC, it has incorporated comments made by Thomas Rose, President of Poinsett Fertilizer, Inc. and George Crook on behalf of American Composting, Inc. in its “Premium Biosolids Incentives Cost Share Program” so that “land application” of “eligible premium biosolids” will no longer be restricted “within 100 feet” of “drainage ditch[es] located outside a Nutrient Surplus Area lying on or contiguous to row crop farmland or pasture land that receives only intermittent surface water runoff from natural precipitation and crop irrigation, and . . . wells and manmade water reservoirs that serve as a water source solely for the irrigation of row crops and pastures.” (more…)

Leave a Comment November 30, 2011

Sewage Sludge in the News

• Sewage Plant Closed for Violations Sparks Local Conflict: The sewage composting facility in Lamont, California that was recently closed by unanimous vote of the County Board of Supervisors after two brothers working at the plant died from inhaling a fatal concentration of hydrogen sulfide, is the subject of conflict in Kern County. The plant employed more than 130 people, who now expect to be laid off within weeks. Some 60 of them protested in front of the County of Kern Administrative Center on Tuesday. County Supervisor Karen Goh helped organize a job fair for the workers that took place at the same time as the protest. Organizers estimate that more than 100 people came to that event, which featured 18 agencies offering employment, housing and food. Meanwhile, a hearing to stay the closure of the plant, operated by the Lamont Public Utility District, was postponed to next Tuesday (Bakersfield Californian, 11/22).
• Two Indiana Towns Fined for Spreading Too Much Arsenic-Heavy Sludge: Albany, Indiana has already paid a civil penalty, and Union City is facing one, both for problems with their methods of dealing with sewage sludge. Union City has allegedly been spreading so much sludge on soil that it exceeded the towns’ arsenic concentration limits of 75 milligrams per kilogram. Albany allegedly failed to submit monthly reports about how much treated wastewater it was releasing into the Mississinewa River (a tributary of the Wabash River in the Mississippi River watershed) (Muncie Star Press, 11/20). (more…)

Leave a Comment November 23, 2011

Food News You Can Use

• Secret Farm Bill Fails! According to Bloomberg (11/21), “the plan, which was never publicly released, would have done away with about $5 billion in annual payments to farmers made regardless of crop prices. The subsidy would have been replaced partially with insurance against ‘shallow losses’ created by drops in revenue, according to lawmakers including Representative Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat. Some lawmakers said the budget-cutting proposal may form the foundation of the next farm bill, due in 2012.”
• Blue Hill, Maine, Rallies Around Farmer Brown: On Friday, November 18, Blue Hill residents and neighbors from surrounding towns rallied in support of Farmer Dan Brown of Gravelwood Farm in Blue Hill, Hancock County (Bangor Daily News, 11/18). Brown is being sued by the State of Maine and Agriculture Commissioner Walt Whitcomb for selling food without state licenses. Blue Hill was the first of five Maine towns to have passed a “Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance.” These ordinances permit the kind of sales Brown has been engaged in.

  Speakers at the rally included Dan Brown, Penobscot farmer Heather Retberg of Quill’s End Farm, and Jeff Beyea, who was was Walter Whitcomb’s herdsman for over a year before he became Agriculture Commissioner. Beyea said that Whitcomb himself was in the practice of selling raw milk from his herd on his farm without a license.

• USDA Proposes “Organic” Use of Tetracycline, Formic Acid and Attapulgite: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News reports (11/15) that “USDA‘s National Organic Program on Nov. 8 proposed allowing the use in organic agriculture of tetracycline, formic acid and attapulgite.” What’s next? Will sewage sludge from industrial and human waste be allowed to be spread on organic farms as well? Tetracycline is one of many toxic contaminants found in sludge.

Leave a Comment November 22, 2011

Sewage Sludge in the News

• Sludge Trade Group Hosts Poster Contest: As every year, the US Composting Council is hosting a poster contest for its annual PR campaign, “International Compost Awareness Week” (2012′s is May 7-May 12). Entries are due by November 30. Read about the 2011 PR campaign on PRWatch here: ”USCC’s members include Synagro, the largest processor of sewage sludge in the United States with revenues of over $300 million annually. The ‘International Compost Awareness Week’ is coordinated by Jeff Ziegenbein of the giant Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEAU) in Southern California. IEUA supplies the sewage sludge ‘compost’ that is resold by companies like Kellogg Garden Products, which supplies the sewage sludge-based products to local Home Depot and Lowe’s garden centers.”
• Brattleboro, Vermont Sewage Plant to Install Digester and Spread Sludge on Soil: According to a BioCycle article (subscription only) reprinted on InsuranceNewsNet (11/10), “To meet the town’s sustainability commitments, the project is designed to reuse existing facilities and structures to the extent possible and upgrade the biosolids treatment operation to produce Class A biosolids that can be land applied. The three existing digesters will be converted into a twophase anaerobic process.”

Leave a Comment November 16, 2011

Sewage Sludge in the News

• Palo Alto Votes to Convert Park to Sludge Site: Palo Alto, California voters passed Measure E (Peninsula Press, 11/8) to re-designate a city park as “an organic-waste processing facility, or composting site, for yard trimmings, sewage and food scraps. . . . [I]mplementing anaerobic digestion, the composting technology recommended for the new plant, could eliminate the current environmentally damaging practices the city uses for processing sewage.” But although the facility, once it’s built, would collect methane from decomposition as fuel, “construction on the site of Byxbee Park, a former landfill, would include digging up 200 million cubic feet of garbage, and releasing ‘tons’ of the greenhouse gas methane.” EPA whistleblower Hugh Kaufman has called gasification, or using sludge to generate methanol or energy, the “most environmentally sound approach, but also the most expensive,” to sludge disposal. However, anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge, while it reduces the volume of the sludge and heats it to a temperature that kills many pathogens, still leaves behind what the industry calls “digestate” or, more specifically in this case, “biosolids,” which still contain other sludge contaminants.
• Gates Foundation Funds Project to Fertilize with Toxic Sludge: According to La Jolla, California local newspaper (11/7), the “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday awarded $100,000 grants to San Diego-based research projects on improving sanitation and finding the causes of diseases in babies. One of the Grand Challenges Explorations grants went to a project by San Diego State University engineering professor Temesgen Garoma, who seeks to reliably and inexpensively treat human waste with algae, generate biogas for energy use and create biosolids to use as fertilizer.” (more…)

Leave a Comment November 9, 2011

Meet Kellogg’s Sludge Puppet

(This article has been corrected to reflect that the co-creator of the kids’ gardening puppet is not employed by Kellogg Garden Products but that Kellogg has sponsored some of the puppet’s gardening events.  In communications with the Center, the co-creator of the puppet, Lisa Ely, has shared her view that the puppet is an educational tool and not a marketing tool for Kellogg to reach families and kids interested in gardening. The puppet was created before Kellogg began sponsoring some of its events at gardening stores that market Kellogg’s sludge-based products.)

A new puppet’s in town! His name is Karden, and according to his PR, he shows kids how much fun gardening can be. What parents and teachers aren’t told is that he is actually a marketing tool for sewage sludge merchant Kellogg Garden Products.

Books featuring Karden, available at common bookstores, and an “Idea Factory” website devoted to him, are full of gardening activities for parents and teachers to do with their kids. Karden throws free kids’ gardening events at bookstores and hardware stores.

Lisa Ely, one of the two creators of the character, is listed on a gardening website about “Karden’s Corner” as “an award-winning television producer and owner of one the newest production companies in Los Angeles focused on documentary television.” But while she has, indeed, produced such reality TV shows as CBS’s “The Amazing Race,” Discovery Channel’s “Verminators,” and TLC’s “America’s Ugliest,” Ely’s Facebook page lists no production company. Instead, it lists Kellogg as her employer:

(more…)

2 Comments November 9, 2011