Sludge Watch ==> Wastewater industry research foundation ready to test protocol on illnesses

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The earmarks of this project are foot dragging and the fact that the sludge 
industry has a veto. This is a puny underpowered effort to think about 
starting to contemplate recording and investigating sludge health 
complaints.  It looks more about delay than actual investigation.

Details on the original part I are at the bottom of this email.

Generally speaking the sludge industry has little to no abilty to 
investigate health impacts from sludge because they have little in the way 
of meaningful records about what exactly was in the sludge, where it was 
placed, how much was placed, what was in it, what bacterial pathogen load, 
etc.  So even if sick people are willing to divulge their medical 
records...does the sludge industry have enough sludge records to put the two 
pieces of data together in a meaningful way?

The current wastewater game is to assert  sludge is 'safe' while all the 
while the sludge industry and their regulators refuse to investigate 
complaints.

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

For Immediate Release: April 10, 2008

For more information, contact:
Dawn Forsythe, WERF Director of Communications
WERF = Water Environment Research Foundation
Email: dforsythe at werf.org
Phone: 703-684-2470, ext. 7908


WERF Seeks Research Proposals to Test Protocol for Land Application of Soil 
Amendments

(ALEXANDRIA, VA) The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is 
accepting proposals for pilot testing a protocol designed to help local 
environmental and health officials respond to health complaints from 
citizens who come in contact with land applied soil amendments, including 
biosolids.

WERF is providing up to $400,000 for researchers to test and refine a 
protocol for collecting, acting on, and maintaining information about 
reports and investigations of exposures and health symptoms reported by 
persons in proximity to municipal wastewater treatment biosolids land 
application sites. A practical, objective and reliable protocol would be 
valuable to citizens, health agencies, and environmental agencies, as well 
as to wastewater treatment plants and biosolids land appliers.

Pilot testing would take place under real-world conditions by local health 
officials and environmental agencies that are responsible for health issues 
or biosolids land application practices and requirements.

"We believe this protocol is a significant step forward in making sure that 
producers, appliers, regulators and the public have reliable and accurate 
information," says Dan Woltering, Director of WERF Research. "Pilot testing 
is an essential step in bringing together people representing a variety of 
expertise and responsibilities, to determine whether the protocol indeed 
accomplishes what it sets out to do."

Proposals are due no later than June 6, 2008.

The protocol is intended to be used by medical providers and public health 
officials when citizens report health symptoms that they attribute to the 
application of soil amendments such as fertilizer, biosolids, animal 
manures, food residuals. The protocol collects the following information:

documentation of reported symptoms;
recent land application of soil amendments in the vicinity;
sources, amounts, and characteristics of the soil amendment;
factors that could lead to off-site impacts; and
other exposures that could be related to reported symptoms of illness.
The complete request for proposals, with instructions, can be viewed at 
www.werf.org. Please contact Senior Program Manager Lola Olabode at 
lolabode at werf.org or Alan Hais, Senior Program Director, at ahais at werf.org 
for more information on this research effort or the proposal process.

////////////////////////////////////////

Remember this?  This was Part I - Done by  Steve Wing PhD

For Immediate Release: July 26, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth Striano, Director of Communications
703-684-2470
estriano at werf.org

WERF to Develop Protocol for Investigating Reports of Alleged Health Impacts

Associated with Biosolids Land Application



(ALEXANDRIA, VA) The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is
soliciting proposals from researchers who can help develop a protocol that
will allow for collecting, acting on, and maintaining data on reports of
alleged health symptoms by people living near municipal wastewater treatment
biosolids land application site. The data collected may help answer the
question as to whether or not a causal link between biosolids land
application and health effects exists.



Biosolids are defined as “solid or semisolids material obtained from treated
wastewater, often used as fertilizer.”



This research responds to a July 2002 report from the National Research
Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences. Although the NRC report
found no documented scientific evidence that the part 503 rules have failed
to protect public health, it did recommend that U.S. EPA update the
scientific basis of regulations governing biosolids, improve knowledge of
chemicals and pathogens, and evaluate concerns about health effects and
exposure. WERF will play a role in helping to fill these scientific gaps and
will provide its findings to U.S. EPA.



The WERF funding for Phase 1 of this program is $150,000. The complete
research program includes the development of a protocol (Phase 1), the pilot
testing and refinement of the protocol (Phase 2), and a methodology for its
implementation and use by the appropriate agencies (Phase 3). The funding
amounts for Phases 2 and 3 will be established while Phase 1 is underway.



The successful proposal team will be the contractor for all phases of the
project. Proposers are expected to demonstrate their qualifications relevant
to all three phases in responding to the RFP. This includes technical
expertise for all phases and capability to identify and collaborate with
appropriate resources (e.g., CDC, U.S. EPA, state health agencies).

WERF has committed nearly $1 million in funding for research related to
biosolids this year; an additional $1.5 million in funding has been
committed by WERF subscribers and other organizations over the next five
years.

This project, along with two other projects WERF has started work on, was
ranked highly at the 2003 Biosolids Research Summit, during which a group of
nearly 75 individuals representing agencies, conservation groups, wastewater
facilities, academia, and citizens identified their most pressing research
needs regarding land application of biosolids. Overall, WERF’s biosolids
research is valued at nearly $20 million.

For more information about this and other WERF research, visit our website
at www.werf.org.