Sludge Watch ==> Editorial - More to gag on than spinach

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

In this story, the government says it will come in with 'tougher 
guidelines".  That's cute.  Guidelines are just guidelines...they are not 
enforceable.
The government has taken a voluntary guideline approach to food safety.

Look at the Part 503 biosolids on the required waiting periods between 
spreading sewage sludge and harvesting root crops, and other food crops.
The farmer is not bound by the Part 503 requirements...just the sewage plant 
and the waste hauler...not the farmer.  So does the sewage treatment
plant have any legal enforceable instrument to make the farmer comply with 
these waiting periods?  Not in the legislation.

So in California , for example, the federal 503 sludge regs don't provide 
enforcement compliance mechanisms with waiting periods between sludging and 
crop harvesting.
And don't forget the sludge farms in Kern...where the sludgers told the 
federal EPA permitting authority that they were making and spreading Class A 
sludge,
but never provided the testing data required to prove it.  The EPA never 
fined them, because they said it is ok to spread Class B in Kern. It is 
apparently
ok  for sludge spreaders to misrepresent their sludge as Class A on their 
certification statement in their annual reports to the EPA, too. That is 
what spreaders did in Kern County for the last few years.

If the EPA authorities allow companies to claim they are making  and 
spreading Class A when all they have demonstrated is Class B, then what 
assurances does the public have?  When spinach growers fail to meet their 
sewerage permits, who pays the price? When the regulators fail to regulate, 
we all lose.

Enforceable and enforced regulations are critical to public health...whether 
its sludge, wastewater, or other food safety issues.


...................................................................................................................

The Bakersfield Californian
Editorial
More to gag on than spinach
Sunday, Sep 24 2006
There was something so wrong about my lunch last Friday. I was sitting at my 
desk, munching a green salad and reading reports about federal investigators 
trying to track down the cause of a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to leafy 
green vegetables - specifically spinach - from California's Salinas Valley.
Arrrrgh! Too late to spit out my salad. I was nearly finished. The best I 
could do was wash it down with an antiseptic bottle of diet Pepsi.
The E. coli outbreak has killed one person, sickened at least 157 others in 
several states and is suspected in the death of a 2-year-old Idaho boy. The 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat fresh 
spinach until tougher growing and processing guidelines are issues, and the 
cause of the outbreak is found.
Possible culprits include unsanitary harvesting, processing and packaging 
conditions, soil and water contamination, and animal contamination.
It doesn't take much to contaminate a field and embed a deadly bacteria in 
our food chain. One story theorized a deer could have wandered about, 
dropping his feces onto the crops. Others report flooding from a nearby cow 
pasture may have washed manure into a field. Water contaminated by urban 
runoff or human waste is being probed.
No wonder vegetable growers and food processors are fighting Southern 
California's hauling of sludge to Kern County and smearing it on farmland. 
Sludge is human and industrial goo from sewer plants. It wouldn't take much 
for toxics, deadly bacteria or residual pharmaceuticals in sludge to 
contaminate soil, underground water or flood into fields where edible crops 
are grown.
Food processors warned Kern County growers they will not buy vegetables 
grown in fields that have ever been "fertilized" with sludge. But tracking 
sludge use over several growing seasons is tricky. And runoff from 
sludge-smeared fields could spill into irrigation canals and underground 
water supplies.
You would think people who live in Southern California would worry more 
about this farm-to-fork connection than keeping their sewer rates low by 
hauling their waste to Kern County. What they are flushing down their 
toilets could come back on their plates.
The E. coli outbreak demonstrates how vulnerable crops are and how deadly 
the consequences can be.
Since 1995, there have been 20 deadly E. coli outbreaks in produce. Nine of 
the outbreaks have been linked to the Salinas Valley. In the 1990s, the sale 
of pre-washed greens in sealed bags also started to boom. Investigators 
probing the latest outbreak found a contaminated bag of spinach at the New 
Mexico home of a person who became ill.
There may be a connection between the rash of E. coli outbreaks and bagged 
leafy greens. But no one is certain exactly what the connection is. Does the 
contamination begin in the field and the bags incubate it? Or does the 
contamination occur in the processing.
Grower trade groups are rushing to develop tougher harvesting and processing 
guidelines, which must be approved by the FDA. Meanwhile, Kern's state Sen. 
Dean Florez wants to fold into state law the FDA's 2004 "Action Plan to 
Minimize Foodborne Illness Associated with Fresh Produce Consumption."
Even without the precise cause of the most recent outbreak being pinpointed, 
it is clear that present voluntary grower guidelines and sanitation 
procedures in the field are inadequate. So is the state's oversight and 
enforcement.
Legislation Florez plans to introduce likely will include developing or 
revisiting: state guidelines and penalties to minimizing foodborne 
illnesses, and field sanitation laws requiring such things as minimum 
standards for worker toilet facilities. Florez also plans to focus on the 
consequences of field flooding. He may propose a ban on the sale of produce 
from flooded fields.
New water well testing requirements may be sought, as well as a ban on the 
use of reclaimed sewage water to irrigate crops. Increased monitoring and 
inspection of facilities that produce, package and transport produce will be 
considered.
But what are consumers supposed to do while the veggie detectives look for 
the culprits, growers and the FDA bicker over rules, and legislators, like 
Florez, pass new laws?
The FDA simply tells us not to eat the spinach. But earlier outbreaks also 
occurred in lettuce.
Here's my plan: No more bagged salads. I'm lazy. I love prewashed, bagged 
salads. In less than five minutes, you have a salad. No more for me. I'm 
back to buying a head of lettuce and ripping it apart myself.
I asked my sister for advice. She travels a lot in Mexico, where food 
contamination is a tourist's nightmare. She suggests I wash my lettuce in 
bleach. She didn't say how much - a drop or a half cup? I'll hold off until 
I figure that out. The Internet also is full of tips.
But I'm going to keep munching salads. I didn't swear off hamburgers after 
the E. coli outbreaks involving ground beef. I'm going to hang in there with 
veggies, too.