From input at riversides.org Mon Apr 8 16:28:22 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 16:28:22 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Sludge in Florida Message-ID: <008001c1df3c$00cab140$9f9123cf@interlog.com> A recent article from Florida that will be of interest to Sludge Watch List Serv members ... ------------------------------------------------------ Ten dead manatees found recently in Southwest Florida waters and Mari Hollingsworth's two children, who became ill while living on a DeSoto County ranch, have something in common. They were all infected with pathogens that originate in human feces. Hollingsworth, a Port Charlotte nurse, fears the infections could also stem from the same source: the practice of spreading sewage sludge on cow pastures as fertilizer, a practice approved by both state and federal agencies since 1992. Hollingsworth wonders if the large volume of sludge currently being spread in DeSoto County could also be spreading disease and fouling waters like Horse Creek and the Peace River. "Things are unfolding as time passes," Hollingsworth said this week. "You read about manatees dying and red tide, and you think: Is there a connection? "I believe there is, because of the amount of sludge that is going to these sites." Hollingsworth is one of about a half-dozen citizens who have been calling for the DeSoto County Commission to ban the spreading of "Class B" sludge in the county. The citizens also want the ordinance to restrict the use of "Class AA," a higher grade of sludge treated with lime. The material should be banned from the flood plains of both Horse Creek and the Peace River, the advocates say. The state has rules governing the use of Class B sludge, including that it is not to be applied to soaked ground or within 200 feet of creeks and rivers. But the use of Class AA is currently unrestricted. The Commission listened to its citizens -- and quickly found itself drawn into a national debate over sludge regulation as a result. The debate has also pitted a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency microbiologist, Dr. David Lewis, against not only the national sludge industry but also some of the top administrators in his own agency. Lewis, who says he has been exiled to a research office with no funding as a consequence of publishing his views, spoke of his research at a community meeting in Arcadia at Hollingsworth's invitation last month. In July 2001, the Commission joined more than a dozen other Florida counties that have passed their own sludge regulations. A couple of the counties have effectively banned sludge by creating restrictions so onerous haulers no longer deliver the material to those counties, according to Maurice Barker, a program administrator for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. But the DeSoto County Commission voted 3-2 to ban the spreading of Class B sludge outright. It also required haulers to get county permits for Class AA. Azurix North American Wastewater Residuals Inc., the biggest sludge hauler in the region, promptly sued DeSoto County. The company won an injunction from a federal district court judge in September that blocked the county from banning Class B sludge. Azurix argues that both the DEP and the EPA allow the spreading of Class B sludge, therefore DeSoto County has no justification for banning it. The commission will consider a compromise ordinance at a public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the county administration building in Arcadia. The latest draft doesn't ban Class B, but many new restrictions would go into effect, including a 1,000-foot setback from streams and rivers. Whether the compromise will resolve the litigation remains to be seen. In negotiation sessions behind closed doors, Asurix continued to object to many of the draft provisions, said Commissioner Ronald Neads. "Every time we'd offer something, they'd want something more," he said. "They didn't want us to enforce anything in Double A." Neads was one of the two commissioners who voted against banning Class B sludge. He said the threat of litigation was his reason. "It would have been so simple," he said, almost wistfully. "We would have passed an ordinance and we would never have heard the name 'sludge' again." Class B sludge is dewatered sewage that has been treated in aerobic and anaerobic "digesters." The treatment uses microbes to reduce by some 50 times the natural concentrations of bacteria, viruses and worms. Class AA is further treated, commonly with lime, to reduce the pathogens virtually to zero. Sounding the alarm Hollingsworth first became alarmed about sludge in 1994, after her two young children became sick with flu-like symptoms. She suspected the illnesses were caused by the sludge that was being spread on the V.C. Hollingsworth Ranch, where she lived with her husband, Clyde Hollingsworth, son of the ranch owner. But, the illnesses went away after she ran out in front of a truck that was spraying sludge and ordered the operation to cease, Mari Hollingsworth said. In 1998, however, both her children again became ill. This time, they were diagnosed with rotavirus, an ailment spread by a "feces to mouth" interaction. The spraying had resumed after Mari had moved from the ranch following a divorce, she pointed out. Mari Hollingsworth has been a foe of the sludge industry ever since. The Hollingsworth Ranch is the biggest of eight, totaling 16,000 acres in DeSoto County, that accept sludge. They receive an estimated 250,000 gallons of sludge each day, based on reports in county files. The sludge arrives in 6,000-gallon tanker trucks. Azurix alone delivers 50 to 60 truckloads per day from 200 customers outside the county, said Jeff Snyder, Azurix project manager. The company has operations in 36 counties. The amount delivered in DeSoto went from 768 tons in 1992 to 13,488 in 1999, according to a DEP report. The sludge comes from sewage treatment plants at utilities ranging in size from small mobile home parks to large cities. Azurix attorney Michael Ciccarone, in a letter to the county last fall, lodged objections to a proposal to limit operations to daylight hours and weekdays. "Contracts with Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale require us to haul 24 hours a day, every day of the year," he said, adding that the company has "a few other contracts like that." Perhaps surprisingly, the hauler voiced no objection to the 1,000-foot setback to Horse Creek and the Peace River, provided the county drop its proposed setback for "tributaries." "That's a major concession, because these two water bodies are not considered Class 1 Outstanding Florida Waters within the boundaries of DeSoto County," he said. Others lobbying for DeSoto County's ordinance include residents Larry Paquin and Tanya Bond. In 1995, they videotaped a truck dumping sludge near their ome. A herd of cows was pictured following the truck, which was disbursing its load near the flood plain of Horse Creek, the couple said this week. Bond said the odors reminded her "of a Port-O-Let that hasn't been emptied in five days." "It's a knockout," she said. "And you can't get the smell out of your house." Hollingsworth has also taken hundreds of pictures of sludge operations, sometimes following the sludge trucks at night. Her pictures show mounds of a white cake-like material dumped in piles. Some piles are within a stone's throw of a wetland. Hollingsworth has turned such photos over to the DEP in hopes of sparking an investigation. However, the DEP has rarely confirmed even the most minor of allegations. In a March 6 notice, for example, the DEP advised Azurix that its inspectors had found two cows grazing in the vicinity of four trucks that were disbursing their loads. However, no evidence of dumping sludge in wetlands was found, the investigator wrote. State rules require cows be kept off such fields for 30 days; the public must keep out for 12 months after Class B is sprayed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm doing their job for them," said Hollingsworth, referring to the DEP. A rancher's rules "The problem isn't the sludge," said Larry Hudson, president of Hudson farms, which receives some 60,000 gallons of sludge from Charlotte County Utilities each day. "The problem is the delivery and distribution." He said his ranch hands supervise haulers to make sure they obey state-mandated setbacks and other rules. Without supervision, the haulers have a tendency to do what ranch hands call "blowing a load out," Hudson said. "My policy is: They're not here to get rid of it, they're here to grow me grass," he said. Situated between two residential areas, Hudson farms has had few complaints, he said. That should indicate sludge can be applied without problems, he said. Hudson personally feels the proposed 1,000-foot setback from streams is "overkill." But, he added that counties should regulate the operations. "The key is having county inspectors checking to see if it's done right," he said. Relying on the DEP to perform that task isn't sufficient, said Jerry Hill, chairman of the DeSoto commission, . "It's basically the honor system," he said. "I think there's a place (for sludge)," Hill added. "I also certainly feel we've got to have some regulation so that we can maintain some control. "It needs to be regulated." You can e-mail Greg Martin at gmartin at sun-herald.com By GREG MARTIN Staff Writer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edo_mcgowan at hotmail.com Mon Apr 8 22:54:49 2002 From: edo_mcgowan at hotmail.com (Edo McGowan) Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 02:54:49 +0000 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Re: Sludge Watch ==> Sludge in Florida Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edo_mcgowan at hotmail.com Mon Apr 8 22:56:06 2002 From: edo_mcgowan at hotmail.com (Edo McGowan) Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 02:56:06 +0000 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Re: Sludge Watch ==> Sludge in Florida Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From input at riversides.org Mon Apr 15 14:57:37 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 14:57:37 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> EPA MICROBIOLOGIST VINDICATED Message-ID: <014c01c1e4b1$283cc4a0$596615ac@cone> CHARLOTTE SUN HERALD, FLORIDA - SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2002 EPA MICROBIOLOGIST VINDICATED AGENCY REPORT CORROBORATES HIS CONCERNS By Greg Martin, Staff Writer A U. S. Environmental Protection Agency microbiologist transferred after criticizing the agency over a lack of scientific investigation into policies that allow the spreading of sewage sludge on agricultural lands won some vindication this week. The EPA's Office of Inspector General issued a report that corroborated his concerns that the health and environmental risks from sludge-spreading need further evaluation. "The report shows that the EPA didn't get the science right and has no idea how much the public health and the environment may have suffered as a result," said Dr. David Lewis. Lewis recently spoke of his research to a small group of DeSoto County residents at a community hall meeting in Arcadia last month. His presentation came at the invitation of anti-sludge activist Mari Hollingsworth of Port Charlotte. Hollingsworth began pushing for restrictions on sludge after two of her children, who lived on her former father-in-law's range in DeSoto County, came down with rotavirus. The ailment could have come from sludge spread on the ranch, Lewis said. "Stories like the one described by Mari are occurring across the country, from the East Coast to the West Coast, and in Canada as well," Lewis said. Lewis is an employee of the EPA's Office of Research and Development. He was a member of the EPA research team that first revealed a decade ago the AIDS virus could be spread by dental drills. But Lewis was transferred from that office to the University of Georgia after he criticized the EPA in a 1999 article published in the British journal 'Nature.' The article cited the EPA's failure to consider scientific evidence in making seveeral policy decisions. Lewis cited not only sludge-spreading but also an EPA rule adopted in the early 1990s that required the anti-pollution chemical MTBE to be added to gasoline. Scientists had warned the chemical would wind up in drinking water, a warning that proved true. Lewis said an assistant administrator of the agency "took offense" at the article. Stripped of his lab's multi-million-dollar research budget, Lewis launched a low-budget study of sludge and health in the late 1990s. He and an assistant surveyed 48 people residing near sludge operations who had complained of ailments and noxious odors. The cases studied also included a man who died in New Hampshire in 1995 and an 11-year-old boy who died in Pennsylvania in 1994. He found that 25 percent of the people in the study were diagnosed with staphylococcus aureus -- including two who died. Such infections would be expected in sludge workers, he said. He also found that most of the people reported burning lungs and coughing before getting ill. Lewis theorizes that chemical irritants in the sludge; including toxins that are left over after a certain bacteria dies off, caused the inflammation. That would make those people more susceptible to infection. "I thought, here's a mechanism for infection that has not been considered before," he said. In November 2001, Lewis presented his theory in a speech at the university of Boston School of Public Health. He also published an article about it. That earned him the wrath of the sludge industry. "David Lewis' article appears to be little more than his latest effort to improperly cloak his invalidated and unpublished theories on biosolids with the credibility of the EPA," wrote Albert Gray, deputy director of the Water Environment Federation, in a February letter to EPA Administrator Christine Whitman. The OIG identified more than 10 major problem areas under the current sludge rule and warned that "the EPA cannot assure the public that current land application practices are protective of human health and the environment." In response to the OIG's report, Whitman called for the National Academy of Sciences to expedite the completion of its research on the topic. The NAS report is due next month. **************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************** FOR MORE INFORMATION: (1) Regarding the EPA Office of Inspector General's report: http://www.whistleblowers.org/PRoigsludgereport.htm FULL INSPECTOR GENERAL'S REPORT: http://www.whistleblowers.org/OIGFinalSludgeReport.htm -- - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (2) Regarding people sickened from exposure to sewage sludge: http://www.sludgevictims.net (3) Regarding substantial cash settlement to family of young man in NH who died shortly after sludge exposure: http://www.whistleblowers.org/release_SludgeSettle.htm TOXIC SLUDGE PRODUCER PAYS HISTORIC SETTLEMENT Whistleblower Group Requests that Settlement Terms Be Made Public -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From input at riversides.org Mon Apr 15 15:00:24 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 15:00:24 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Ottawa Takes Steps to Stop Spreading of Sludge Message-ID: <014e01c1e4b1$2c011fa0$596615ac@cone> An article from the Ottawa Sun that will interest Sludge Watch members ... ------------------------------------ April 14, 2002 Playing with our health By CLAUDETTE CAIN -- Ottawa Sun "Be it resolved that the environmental services committee recommend that council approve that the city seek tenders for the disposal of biosolids, through land filling, composting the biosolids material and or other options, rather than applying the material on agricultural lands." "CARRIED." WOW!!! They did it -- a city committee actually put the kibosh on the spreading of sludge on our agricultural lands. Hopefully, this is the end of a long battle to protect human health and eliminate one more environmental risk. About 20,000 tons of raw sewage is usually spread on 27 farm sites in Ottawa. The practice is so popular here that the demand from farmers for biosolids surpasses supply. The staff report acknowledged that current wastewater treatment does not completely eliminate pathogens or all of the pollutants in the raw sewage, which includes waste from industry. Yet, our medical officer of health, who hired "experts" to conduct a scientific review of the safety of spreading biosolids, recommended that the practice continue even though there is disagreement among scientists and research on the subject is ongoing and inconclusive. I don't get it. Dr. Cushman is the same one who is hell-bent for leather to protect us from second-hand smoke, yet he's willing to play Russian roulette over the issue of spreading biosolids because of "a lack of compelling evidence of risk." I'd say it's time to get your priorities straight, Doc. Luckily, the committee members were able to hear for themselves how the spreading has affected real people in our community. Members of one family suffered from diarrhea, headaches, dry eyes and loss of appetite, and had to send a lawyer's letter to our public health department, only to be told their investigation "identified no health hazard." Personal testimony from several others, who continue to suffer serious consequences from the spreading of human waste, raised more than a few eyebrows at the committee meeting. Our public health officials must have been aware of all these health incidents, yet only one was briefly documented in the staff report. Bravo to members of council who showed compassion for residents, with their vote against forging ahead with the program this spring. To err on the side of caution is wise when the health of individuals is at stake. >From this point on, food grown here will be sludge free. That's indeed a bonus for agriculture in Ottawa. But we are not out of the woods yet. Research conducted by Cornell and Guelph universities indicates that we may have been consuming metals which permeated the crops from fields that were spread with sludge in previous years. Now isn't that a scary thought. I hate to bring up Walkerton, but it sure came to mind when I heard about this. I wish Dr. Cushman and his "experts" would explore that study and inform us how to protect ourselves as consumers, instead of brushing off the warnings about sewage sludge as alarmist. We deserve some hard facts on what is in the local crops from sludge-laden lands. Gardeners in the area should also be cautious with garden soil, because I gather that sewage sludge has been mixed in with the soil and could cause health problems. We also know that one of the first uses of raw sewage is to spread it on sod farms. New home buyers should be leery of the sod being laid in front of their home this spring. I find it curious that the city is looking at banning pesticides, yet they have no problem with the fact that those new, luscious lawns where babies play may contain dangerous pollutants. The environmental committee made a good start with its decision to ban the practice of spreading raw sewage on agricultural lands. Can we count on them to go the full route and take the necessary steps to protect us from the harm that could result from its current biosolids program? We should expect no less. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From csi at thegrid.net Thu Apr 18 03:11:31 2002 From: csi at thegrid.net (David) Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 00:11:31 -0700 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> EDCs - Amphibian Mutations documented - Gonads Under Attack Message-ID: <00ef01c1e6a8$46868600$60d956d1@oemcomputer> for distribution (Gonads Under Attack): Common sense & the precautionary principle at work in Europe vs. the fetishism of "science" with bureaucratic/corporate biostitues in the U.S. EDCs (Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals) Attached: L.A. Times article (4-16-02): "National Academy of Sciences links atrazine... to an array of sexual abnormalities in frogs. ... Since the mid-1990s, researchers in England and Florida have been documenting sex changes in fish downstream from sewage outfalls and alligators exposed to agricultural chemicals. ... in Europe, concerns over high levels of atrazine detected in drinking water led to bans in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Norway, France and, most recently, Belgium. By the mid-1990s, under pressure from the EPA for new safety data, Syngenta commissioned an estimated 100 new atrazine safety studies in North America, including one from Hayes." Attached (the article with full access to links costs $5): http://www4.nas.edu/nas/nashome.nsf National Academy of Sciences Proceedings (PNAS) http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/99/8/5476?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Atrazine&searchid=1019103243106_1513&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&volume=99&issue=8 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 99, Issue 8, 5476-5480, April 16, 2002 Ecology Hermaphroditic, demasculinized frogs after exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses Abstract "Atrazine is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S. and probably the world. ... Atrazine (>/= 0.1 ppb) induced hermaphroditism and demasculinized the larynges of exposed males (>/= 0.1 ppb). ... other amphibian species exposed to atrazine in the wild could be at risk of impaired sexual development. This widespread compound and other environmental endocrine disruptors may be a factor in global amphibian declines." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: EDCs - Herbicide-Frogs LAT 4-16-02.doc Type: application/msword Size: 27136 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From input at riversides.org Mon Apr 22 15:13:58 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 15:13:58 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Plans for Pellets in Toronto Message-ID: <00b901c1ea31$f581b4e0$596615ac@cone> BMN NewsThe following is being forwarded to the Sludge Watch List Serv by Maureen Reilly. It is from Beach Metro Community News. The link to the article is http://www.beachmetro.com/news8.html ---------------------------------- Incineration to end at Ashbridges Bay Plant by Jon Muldoon Burning of sewage sludge will become part of East Toronto history this fall, when the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant converts to pelletization. Councillor Sandra Bussin said now that a marketing agreement is in place, all that's left is for council to officially pass the motion in favour of converting the plant in their next session. "We've moved the Council considerably in the time since this was presented to them in 1997, when many of the councillors were convinced that incineration was the only way to go," said Bussin. Currently about half of the sewage sludge at the plant is incinerated, while half goes directly to land application as fertilizer. In the future, 32,000 tonnes, or more than half of the sludge, will be diverted into the pelletization process, producing a pathogen-free fertilizer, leaving nothing to be incinerated. The remaining 25,000 tonnes will continue to be used as a direct land-applied, water reduced sludge. "The potential here is great in terms of how we as a city will be able to deal with this form of waste," said Bussin. The pelletization facilities will be functional by June, with staff from the incinerator being transferred to the pelletizer. By fall, the facility should be fully operational. The new process met with some difficulty earlier, while the province's Nutrient Waste Management legislative committee put everything on hold. The pelletizer got caught up in post-Walkerton red tape and caution, but eventually passed those hurdles. "Every member of that committee saw Toronto's direction as exemplary," said Bussin. In fact, they suggested the possibility of applying Toronto's strategies to other municipalities, she said. The only issue left to deal with is odour. The incinerator was used to help reduce odour, so a new process to manage odour needs to be put in place. "The odour is seen more as a nuisance, and not as a health issue, as is the incineration," said Bussin. "This is a really exciting and I think historical moment for East Toronto, to see the end of incineration." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbroten at rfu.org Mon Apr 22 15:31:29 2002 From: dbroten at rfu.org (Delores Broten) Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 12:31:29 -0700 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Fwd: RE: spreading biosolids Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.2.20020422122929.00a5a270@mail.island.net> Apparently, there is going to be a REVOTE on the Ottawa sludge ban. Delores >>> A letter by Marian Kay in the Citizen today, Apr. 22 implies >>>that the councillorsare are to vote on the spreading of biosolids on >>>farm fields on Wednesday. >>> I was under the impression that this had been voted on and >>>turned down after the presentation by Dr. Cushman presented his >>>report. I would appreciate you clarfying this point for me. >>Delores Broten or Don Malcolm, >>Editors, Watershed Sentinel, Box 39, Whaletown >>British Columbia Canada V0P 1Z0 >> >>Ph/fax: 250-935-6992 E-mail: dbroten at rfu.org or wss at rfu.org >>http://www.rfu.org/wss.htm >> >>"Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind." >> - General William Westmorland. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From oen at oen.ca Mon Apr 22 17:17:59 2002 From: oen at oen.ca (Ontario Environment Network) Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 17:17:59 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Fwd: municipal sewers vs septic systems Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20020422171759.00a24c00@pop3.onlink.net> can people please reply to this person at 921659 at ican.net thanks! Phillip Penna ps. I would also like to see any responses to this as the question is an interesting one. ---- Begin Included Message ---- From: 921659 at ICAN.NET Sent: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 16:25:43 -0400 To: erica at oen.ca Subject: municipal sewers vs septic systems Dear Sir, we live in Niagara on the Lake and are currently involved in a debate with the Township concerning the proposed installation of municipal sewers in our area. A lot of residents do not see the need for municipal sewers and believe septic systems are in the long run more friendly to the environment. Can you offer any material or suggestions that might be helpful in clarifying what would be the best economical and environmental solution to sewage disposal. Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to provide. Regards, John Rigamonti 921659 at ican.net ?????? ---- End Included Message ---- Erica Wilson Regional Coordinator (Southwest, Central, Horseshoe/Niagara, Greater Toronto Area) 30 Duncan Street, Suite 201 Toronto, Ontario M5V 2C3 tel: 416-979-3900 or 1-877-276-1888 fax: 416-596-0345 web: www.oen.ca http://www.care2.com - Get your Free e-mail account that helps save Wildlife! From dbroten at rfu.org Tue Apr 23 11:32:18 2002 From: dbroten at rfu.org (Delores Broten) Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 08:32:18 -0700 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Selenium: An Insidious and Persistent Toxin Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.2.20020423083147.00a4cec0@mail.island.net> Selenium: An Insidious and Persistent Toxin >From Southern Research Station - USDA Forest Service Monday, April 22, 2002 ASHEVILLE, NC ? Selenium, an essential nutrient for humans and animals, occurs as a trace element in most soils. Selenium can move into water systems when soil is disturbed: when it occurs in higher than normal levels in water, selenium has been shown to cause malformations in fish and other aquatic wildlife. In an article in the April issue of Aquatic Toxicology, a USDA Forest Service researcher warns that the impacts of selenium on freshwater fish populations may become more widespread as human disturbance increases -- and that long-term effects may be underestimated. Dennis Lemly, Forest Service research biologist at the Southern Research Station, has spent the last two decades studying the fish in Belews Lake, North Carolina. Created in 1973 to provide cooling water for a large coal-fired power plant, the lake was contaminated by selenium in discharged wastewater. "Belews Lake represents one of the most extensive and prolonged cases of selenium poisoning of freshwater fish in the United States," said Lemly. "It provides an excellent case study of the insidious and persistent toxicity of selenium to aquatic ecosystems." As selenium accumulated in Belews Lake, the 20 resident species of fish started showing deformities to the spine, head, fins, and eyes. In 1986, the power plant stopped discharging wastewater into the lake. Natural recovery began, but long-term studies by Lemly and other researchers show that ill effects persist long after the source of pollution is gone. "Selenium poisoning in fish can be invisible for a time," said Lemly, "because the primary impact is on the egg, which receives the toxin from the mother's diet. When the eggs are hatched, the developing fish metabolize the selenium. Some fish are visibly deformed, but others grow into adult fish that appear healthy yet fail to reproduce. Because there is no apparent fish kill, species can disappear before you can do anything about it." Belews Lake was the first site to provide conclusive evidence that exposure to elevated levels of selenium -- in this case only 10 to 20 times those in nearby uncontaminated reservoirs -- causes deformities in natural populations of freshwater fish. Nineteen out of the 20 species of fish in Belews Lake disappeared over the course of four years: by 1978, only the selenium-tolerant mosquito fish remained. When Lemly conducted a follow-up study of Belews Lake in 1996, he found selenium still present at a moderate risk level in the sediment of the lake. The element continued to gradually move from the sediment through the food chain, accumulating to toxic levels in fish eggs. "Bioaccumulation in food chains causes otherwise harmless concentrations of selenium to reach toxic levels," said Lemly. "Selenium in contaminated sediments can be cycled into food chains for decades.? At the time Belews Lake was contaminated, the irrigation of selenium-rich soils in arid regions of the American West was the other major source of selenium pollution. New sources include phosphate mining, animal feedlot waste, landfill disposal of ash from coal-fired plants, and the use of constructed wetlands to treat wastewater. For more information: Dr. Dennis Lemly at (540-231-6663) or dlemly at vt.edu For more information, contact: Zoe Hoyle Science Writer/Technical Editor Southern Research Station - USDA Forest Service (828-257-4388) zhoyle at green.gov Web site: http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/ Delores Broten or Don Malcolm, Editors, Watershed Sentinel, Box 39, Whaletown British Columbia Canada V0P 1Z0 Ph/fax: 250-935-6992 E-mail: dbroten at rfu.org or wss at rfu.org http://www.rfu.org/wss.htm "Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind." - General William Westmorland. From input at riversides.org Tue Apr 23 14:14:45 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 14:14:45 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Grudge Over Sludge Message-ID: <006301c1eaf2$c8b561c0$4a9023cf@interlog.com> Tuesday, April 23, 2002 Grudge over sludge Eves faces tough crowd at riding's lone debate By ALAN FINDLAY, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU ORANGEVILLE -- If this is what's called a political cakewalk, Premier Ernie Eves got stuck in the byelection batter of a tough debate crowd. In the first and only scheduled all-candidates' meeting for the Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey vote on May 2, the heavily favoured Eves was challenged from his rivals and jeered from the loudest part of the 700-strong audience with boos and taunts of "liar." "He expects this byelection to be a cakewalk or a free ride," said Liberal candidate Josh Matlow. Matlow, an environmental activist, held up a jam jar full of sewage sludge spread across the riding's farm fields and challenged Eves to stop its use. "Our farmers are being lied to by the government telling them it's safe. Our food is being poisoned and E.coli is being found in our wells," Matlow said.' EARN THEIR TRUST Matlow went on to criticize his own party's position supporting competition in the hydro market, saying there's room for the party to reconsider. Eves asked the gathering not to judge him based on news reports they have read, saying he wants to earn their trust on the hustings. NDP candidate Doug Wilcox challenged Eves to respect last week's Hydro One ruling and scrap the plan for an initial public offering and cancel the May 1 market opening of the electricity market to private generators and hydro retailers. "Mr. Eves, you promised last week to listen to the farmers," said Wilcox, a town councillor. "Well listen to them now and stop the Hydro privatization." Outside the arena, striking OPSEU members picketed Eves' arrival alongside local environmentalists protesting the proposed Rockfort dolostone quarry near Georgetown. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca Wed Apr 24 14:59:15 2002 From: maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca (Maureen Reilly) Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 14:59:15 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Toronto's raw sewage continues to flow into Lake Ontario Message-ID: <3CC70083.311F6F5F@sympatico.ca> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edo_mcgowan at hotmail.com Wed Apr 24 21:40:17 2002 From: edo_mcgowan at hotmail.com (Edo McGowan) Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 01:40:17 +0000 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Re: Sludge Watch ==> Toronto's raw sewage continues to flow into Lake Ontario Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From input at riversides.org Thu Apr 25 14:31:41 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 14:31:41 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Ottawa Biosolid Ban Passes Message-ID: <00b801c1ec89$652e6aa0$596615ac@cone> Thursday, April 25, 2002 Biosolid ban passes Council to reconsider move May 8 By ANN MARIE McQUEEN, Ottawa Sun It could cost the city more than $1.5 million this year to implement yesterday's council decision to ban biosolid spreading on local farmers' fields. Councillors upheld an environmental services committee decision to eliminate the practice of spreading 20,000 tonnes of treated human and industrial waste, half of what Ottawa produces in a year. Coun. Glenn Brooks immediately made a successful motion or council to reconsider the move on May 8. River Coun. Wendy Stewart said the practice of spreading biosolids, which adds pathogens and pollutants to soil along with valuable nutrients, has only continued because Ottawa must get rid of them and struggling farmers need free fertilizer. "I think we've got to come up with a better solution for the biosolids than using our agricultural community as a toxic waste dump," said Stewart. Innes Coun. Rainer Bloess accused his colleagues of being swayed by misinformation and fear-mongering. He said council is ignoring the city's own chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Cushman, who recommended that spreading continue with yearly reviews. "What we're on our way here to doing is the council version of Fear Factor," he said. Pat McNally, the city's director of utility services, estimated it would cost up to $1 million more annually than the previous estimate of $400,000 to find other avenues for the biosolids -- including landfilling and composting -- and up to $600,000 this year to get out of current contracts. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From input at riversides.org Thu Apr 25 14:43:14 2002 From: input at riversides.org (H2infO) Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 14:43:14 -0400 Subject: Sludge Watch ==> Sludge-treated forest is sprouting in KC Message-ID: <00bc01c1ec89$69b30860$596615ac@cone> Posted to the SludgeWatch list serv from The Kansas City Star. Full article is available at http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/3118209.htm?template=con tentModules/printstory.jsp ------------------------------------------------------------------------ April 23, 2002 Sludge-treated forest is sprouting in KC By BILL GRAHAM, The Kansas City Star Toilet flushes and a forest's first sprouts are becoming allied forces for nature in Kansas City. City agronomist Timothy Walters is putting sewage sludge to use as tree fertilizer in a rare conversion of Missouri River bottom farmland back to forest. Crews are planting more than 20 species of trees on city-owned land near the Birmingham Wastewater Treatment Plant in Kansas City, North, land that has been used to grow crops. "I'm really not deviating that much from my traditional training of growing corn, beans and wheat," Walters said. "I'm just going to longer management practices. The basic issues of soil fertility and moisture are still there." Sludge from a few cities has been applied to trees, Walters said, but never on such a large scale and in such a managed system. His sludge-treated forest will be the first in Missouri and one of few nationally, state forestry officials said. "This redbud is just barely starting to sprout," Walters said last week, his finger touching the first green leaf on a tree in an open, flat field. Decades from now, the redbud could be shaded in a deep forest that city officials think is best for economic and environmental reasons. In recent years, concerns have been raised nationally about whether disease or heavy-metal contamination could occur in food when sludge is used as crop fertilizer. Kansas City officials don't see any health problems arising from the city's farm operation, said Bob Williamson, manager for wastewater services. But a switch is being made, in part because of environmental issues but mainly because Walters thinks the city can dispose of more sludge at less cost with trees than crops. "We wanted to produce a nonfood product that was going to accommodate our work schedule," Williamson said. Trees also fit the river bottoms' original ecology. The species being planted -- which include oaks, walnut, pecan, cottonwood, spruce and ash -- are tolerant of wet conditions, like those once found in the swampy forests created by the river's meandering channel. That was before the river had dikes and levees to hold the channel in place in the 1900s, and almost all the forests were converted to crop fields. But in January, Kansas City crews began planting 47,000 seedlings in rows 12 feet apart on 145 acres, mulched by ice-storm residue. The city bought the trees for $11,000 from the Missouri Department of Conservation. "It's going to be an interesting project," said Mark Nelson, forestry regional supervisor for the Conservation Department. "We don't know how the trees are going to respond to the sludge. But every little bit of forest helps." Kansas City owns 1,200 acres between the federal flood levee and the river, and more than 900 acres can be planted. Long-range plans call for all the cropland to be converted to forest, possibly in the next few years if corporate sponsors can be found. Money is at stake, Walters said. The city made $25,000 from crop leases last year and has averaged $50,000 in good crop years, he said. But the farm cannot use all the sludge produced, and the city has to use contractors to haul the excess to other disposal sites such as landfills, incinerators or other farm operations. A recent contract was for $500,000 to haul 7,000 dry pounds, a calculated weight of solids in the sludge. Walters figures he can double sludge-application rates with trees and save $166,000 or more because hauling rates are increasing. "If I can more than double our sludge-application rates, I'd save the city $500,000," he said. To handle sludge, the city's crop fields are underlaid with pipes, much like a buried irrigation system. Crews use tractor-drawn equipment and hoses to slowly inject sludge into the soil in the fall. Autumn is the only time when the current equipment can be used without hurting crops. But wet weather often halts the process. Some years heavy rains prevent any applications. With trees, Walters said, liquefied sludge can be sprayed during growth seasons when nutrients and water can best be absorbed by the trees. Crews can apply sludge year-round because equipment can move through the wide rows without harming the trees. And trees can withstand heavier application rates of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, he said. Soil and leaf tests will be done to watch for any harmful chemical effects from the sludge, Walters said. He thinks an established forest will absorb nitrogen, phosphorus and minerals from sludge more efficiently than crops, with wood as a cash crop with ecological benefits. Some of the trees will grow quickly, but the valuable hardwoods will take several decades to mature enough for harvest. Walters said he hopes he has begun a sustainable forest that will see careful logging and replanting. Years from now it may also be possible to incorporate trails and public use. "I'd like to see it go back to natural forest," he said. "But that will be for somebody else to figure out." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: