Sludge Watch ==> Realty Times: Coming to a field near you?

[Maureen Reilly]

http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20070306_sludgehome.htm

Coming to a Field Near You?
by PJ Wade


Maureen Reilly believed the whole "back-to-nature" and "country-pure" story 
about rural living, so she bought a "get-away-from-it-all" country property 
and began plans to operate a pastoral bed and breakfast. Reilly was 
determine to enjoy her escape from stressful urban living, but, just as many 
dreams of idyllic country life are extinguished by harsh realities, hers 
were undermined by sludge.

"I had been working at Queen's Park, at the Premier's Office, and I bought a 
farmhouse about 2 hours north of Toronto -- with dairy cattle on the fields 
around the house," said Reilly. "One day, I was braiding garlic on the porch 
-- you can't get more country than that -- when a guy walked up and said [a 
lot] of sewage was going to be dressed on my land. I found out I was the 
first farm in Victoria County to get this treatment."

Instead of enjoying peaceful, laid-back country days, Reilly found herself 
immersed in a fight for the environmental integrity of her land, a struggle 
that exposed her to threats and intimidation.

"I was pretty anxious as everything I heard was worse and worse -- terrible 
things," said Reilly explaining that the more she learned about the 
environmental impact of spreading industrial and sewage sludge on farmland, 
and the way the sludge industry operated, the more fearful she became for 
her safety and that of the environment. "I had my back to the wall as my 
house was my only asset. I found a brilliant young lawyer, Richard King, who 
offered to help pro bono."

Reilly and her lawyer eventually stopped sludge being dumped on farmland 
around her house. They proved that, even with a permit, following provincial 
regulations, the watertable was too high and the soil type inappropriate for 
the safe application of sludge in the area. Members of the public and 
property owners who try to stop similar sludge treatment face problems that 
arise from "the regulator being captured by an industry," according to 
Reilly.

"It is an octopus of a thing -- horror ends on horror and becomes too big a 
story to cover," said Reilly. "In an effort to divert waste from land fill, 
farmland is used for dumping. A lot of people are moving out of the city and 
finding the hinterland has turned into an industrial wasteland."

Years of battling for her property rights and to preserve the environment, 
transformed Reilly into an internationally-respected environmental 
researcher with an acknowledged specialty in wastewater and sludge. One 
project fostered by her preoccupation with sludge is Sludge Watch. The open, 
moderated list serv was created by the Sludge Watch Working Group of the 
Ontario Environment Network (OEN), a non-profit, non-governmental network of 
over 500 environmental groups. Reilly reports those using the list serve to 
exchange information on sludge and biosolids range from victims of sludge 
pollution to regulators, environmental companies and sludge companies 
themselves.
(Note: List Serv Manager owner-SludgeWatch-l at list.web.ca.)

Issues surrounding sludge and industrial waste are linked to numerous real 
estate concerns, including:


Toxins and human pathogens from industrial waste and municipal sewage or 
biosolids may be released into the community, the groundwater and the food 
chain presenting health and safety risks.

Difficult to sell property or marginal farmland may be bought with the 
intention of using the land as a dump site for waste, including paper-mill 
waste, potentially causing contamination problems for abutting land as well.

Real estate values can decrease on adjacent properties. Reilly related the 
plight of one family who discovered the farm behind them was essentially a 
"mountain of decomposing paper-mill waste." The family moved, but could not 
sell their subsequently-devalued real estate because of its proximity to the 
waste.

If a real estate professional is aware of contamination, buyers would be 
informed, but what if the listing process does not uncover the problem? 
Reilly says her group sends registered letters to real estate brokers to 
advise them of contamination on real estate they are involved with. 
Investigating environmental permits for the neighbouring area may reveal 
paper or sludge waste dumping, but who do you ask to find out where all the 
sludge is buried? Environmental assessments may become standard due 
diligence in the purchase of rural or recreational land.

Reilly explains another short-coming that could lead to more environmental 
degradation. She says the Ministry of the Environment has turned a "blind 
eye" to paper-mill waste and sewage which is "recycled" into a product 
labeled "fertilizer" after being dried or reworked into sludge pellets. If a 
waste hauler claims this material to be dumped is federally-approved 
fertilizer, then a provincial permit is not necessary. If the offending 
waste product is given away as fertilizer or a land owner is paid to take 
it, the sludge product is not under federal jurisdiction as there is no 
sale, and is not under provincial jurisdiction because it's a 
federally-approved fertilizer.

"Regulators are happy to say that 'it is not on my desk' and it falls 
between two desks and the community is outraged," says Reilly. "The [sludge] 
material is targeted into a loop hole between the two governments."

An escape from urban living requires thorough investigation or it may be out 
of the frying pan and into ... the sludge.

Published: March 6, 2007



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© 2007 PJ Wade, The Catalyst. All reprint rights preserved. 
www.TheCatalyst.com. Previously published in PJ Wade's weekly column 
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...................................................

Strategist and Futurist PJ Wade is The Catalyst -- intent on "Helping The 
Best Get Better." An internationally-recognized "new retirement" authority, 
PJ's research, writing and speaking programs focus on decisions Baby Boomers 
face to achieve a successful future. Author of 6 books, PJ knows that, since 
home is headquarters for the "new retirement," professionals and consumers 
need relevant knowledge and insights, along with solid decision-making 
skills, to protect and enhance this private oasis.