Sludge Watch ==> Ontario Canada - Showdown over sludge heats up with tanker blockade

[Maureen Reilly]

Showdown over sludge heats up with tanker blockade
Tuesday August 29, 2006
by Brian Schuette

Norham - On August 16, Linda Donaldson awoke to news from her husband Roger that tanker trucks loaded with sludge were rumbling down Norham Road. Again. The couple had hoped that after last spring's assurances from council to look into their request to ban the practice in Trent Hills, that they had seen the last of farmers in the area spreading sludge from big city sewers onto their land. The Donaldsons claimed along with 14 other people in their neighbourhood, that they had become ill within days of Bill Honey having the biosolids applied to his fields. Symptoms ranged from extreme and protracted bouts of diarrhea and nausea, to dizziness, breathing problems and headaches. Adults, children and even indoor pets were all affected and some remained ill several months later. Roger himself was rushed to emergency by ambulance after collapsing unconscious in his home, he believes as a result of contamination by the material; 156 local residents agreed with them and signed a petition to ban sludge use in the municipality.
Linda has had her blood tested for heavy metals, again believing that it comes from the sludge, and her doctor has told her that elevated levels of chromium have indeed been found in the tests. Other nearby families are now awaiting results from similar tests.
The tankers owned by Tri Land Environmental began offloading their slurry about 7 a.m. Wednesday, and continued until past supper time. According to Bill Honey in an interview later in the week, 6,000 gallons of sludge were spread per acre over 50 acres of his land. There was a brief interruption in the early afternoon, however, as Linda, Dianne Cooke and Lilias Donaldson stood firmly in the middle of Norham Road, wearing filter masks and blocking the truck convoy from proceeding to the Honey farm. Shortly afterwards, the OPP showed up to remove them from their blockade.


The atmosphere was confrontational at first with the police. A threat came over a walkie talkie from OPP Sergeant Gear to arrest the women if they didn't step aside and let the trucks pass. The ladies stood their ground, defying the police who towered over them. They demanded to be heard and explained their concern and frustration about what was taking place. Linda told the officers, "We feel no one has the right to make us ill!" They understood as well that the sludge can only be applied once every five years, and Dianne called on the police to move the trucks, saying it was they who were breaking the law by returning within less than a year.


Things soon settled down to polite requests from the officers to please step out of the way and let the trucks go about their business. Constable Bruce Thompson pointed out that Tri Land, the Town of Cobourg and Ministry of the Environment (MoE) staff on site had assured him that the trucks had a permit and licences for the lawful execution of their business that day. Detective Constable Jody Albert told the ladies that he understood that they were concerned for their health and had heard their grievances. He said to Linda, "Nobody's disputing what you're saying ma'am, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. I know it's frustrating to go through the right way." The confrontation ended quietly as the three moved aside and the police returned to their squad cars.


Councillor Bill White said it had taken council quite a long time to get a meeting with the MoE, but all they were told was that the sludge was safe. Council has sought further advice from Dr. Lynn Noseworthy of Northumberland's Department of Health, but she has not responded to them. According to the councillor, the MoE says the people complaining of illness need to back up their claims by getting their doctors to say they've been made ill as a result of the sludge.


Similar problems have been cropping up all across Canada, the U.S. and in Britain where sludge has been applied to fields. Environmental groups have sounded warnings as reports of illness are springing up at an alarming rate. There are hundreds of pages of complaints now on file in government offices across southern Ontario and companies such as Del Monte and Heinz have stopped doing business with farms that have been sludged.


Bill Honey brought about this latest confrontation as a result of applying sludge to his field for the second straight year. He feels, however, that presenting his information will help to alleviate concerns. He has been a farmer and agronomist for 30 years, and is also a Certified Crop Advisor, with in-depth knowledge of soil chemistry and fertilizers. He is proud of his stewardship of his land and intends to pass it on in better condition than when he acquired it. He's known about Tri Land and their offer to supply free sludge as fertilizer for some years. He didn't become involved in their program in the past, however, because they required farmers to work the sludge into their fields. Bill is a no-tiller, believing it makes for healthier soil. When he recently learned that the material could be applied without tilling, he contacted the company and had them check out his land to see if it would be suitable for their biosolids. They told him it was and worked out how much material could be absorbed on his field. Because of its rolling topography, only flat parts of his land may have the sludge applied to it.


Dianne Cooke was correct in her belief that it can only be spread once every five years, however, in Bill's case, the company broke down the amount that could be spread into two half strength applications, applied a year apart. This field cannot have the material reapplied now for another five years. It was done this way largely to accommodate the amount of water the land could absorb at one time. Sludge is 97 per cent water, the reason why thousands of gallons have to be applied per acre to provide only a small amount of solid fertilizer.


The material is supplied free of charge and in Bill's case, saves him about $50 per acre over a five year period. He says that's not much money but every little bit helps when farming. He likes Tri Land's product for a number of reasons. As a cash cropper, he has no livestock on his farm to provide him with a ready source of fertilizer. He feels it will work well with his land and crops, and the way he manages his fields. Bill doesn't sell hay from his land, he spreads it behind his combine, putting it back on the ground. The sludge will be quickly and efficiently absorbed into his porous untilled soil, and it will soak into the dry hay. When a new layer of growth appears throughout the fall, those plants will also absorb the material. This ready absorption reduces the likelihood of the material becoming airborne, something the Donaldsons fear happened in last year's application.


He believes he is being a responsible farmer and citizen by taking on this waste material from the cities. He believes it is a wise use of the material, preferring to see it used as fertilizer rather than having it trucked up north to be stored in abandoned mine shafts or burned at treatment plants. Both alternatives are expensive to taxpayers, and the mine storage creates the possibility of the sludge solids percolating into groundwater. He feels confident the material is safe through the monitoring by the Ministry of the Environment.
On the toxic chemicals issue that concerns the Donaldsons and others, Bill said, "There's no doubt in my mind that somebody in Cobourg has put something down the drain that I don't want on my farm. But I've worked with chemicals for thirty years, and it all comes down to concentration of materials that determines if they'll be toxic." He says he's comfortable applying the sludge because the shear volume of water alone dilutes whatever is in the solids to parts per trillion. He feels such amounts are negligible.
There is still one more complication for his opponents. Although his field north of Norham Road won't be sludged again for five years, he has a second field south of the road and wants to apply the biosolids to 45 acres of that field as well later this year or perhaps next summer.


Bill says he's trying to handle the sludge issue responsibly and would "like to see everybody satisfied by this." He feels people must think he doesn't care about their views or feelings now that he's gone ahead with this second application, but he assures them that he does care. "I honestly don't believe that my spreading biosolids has caused anyone problems. If I thought it was a threat to my neighbours, myself, my wife, to my kids, I wouldn't do it." He said he wanted to stress one thing in particular to his neighbours. "I'd like to think that I'm approachable enough that if a person had a concern, they could come and talk to me."

 
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