Sludge Watch ==> PCB contaminated Milorganite costs taxpayers $4.1M ....so far

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch admin:

The point needs to be made.  Every time a city cleans part of the sewer 
system they may be mobilizing highly toxic levels of PCBs and other toxins 
into the sewage sludge that is used on farmlands and home gardens.

This is a violation of the Clean Water Act.

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

Milorganite Now Available Following PCB Scare
Associated Press
Katie DeLong

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has resumed 
production and shipments of its dried sludge fertilizer Milorganite now that 
concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in the sludge have dropped 
significantly and stayed low.

Jeff Spence, the marketing director for Milorganite, said the move took 
place this week after the fertilizer had not been made since June.

The district is out $4.1 million after chemical contamination of sewage 
sludge at the Jones Island wastewater treatment plant during the summer, 
with the loss of revenue from unfilled sales of dried sludge fertilizer 
accounting for $2.4 million of the hit, he said.

The cost of shipping and disposing of tainted dried sludge at landfills, 
cleaning fertilizer storage silos at Jones Island and testing and cleanup of 
public recreational areas where contaminated fertilizer was spread this 
summer, has totaled $1.7 million thus far, Spence said.

More than 4,400 tons of dried sludge containing less than 50 parts per 
million of PCBs has been taken to the Waste Management Inc. Metro landfill 
in Franklin. An additional 6,500 to 7,000 tons of the tainted fertilizer 
will be trucked there this year, said MMSD contract compliance administrator 
Paul Schlecht.

About 3,600 tons of dried sludge containing more than 50 ppm of PCBs was 
shipped to a specially licensed toxic waste landfill in Belleville, Mich.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/11108726.html