Sludge Watch ==> Jim tries to find out what's in his potting soil

[Maureen Reilly]

Jim Poushinsky of rural Ottawa writes:

Hi folks,

I've got an issue that is driving me nuts at the moment!

I'm trying to buy potting soil that is economically priced
and that doesn't contain city sewage sludge as an ingredient.

Since sewage sludge does not have to be listed as an ingredient
when it is mixed in a "product", there is no way of telling in
bags that  say "other ingredients" or some such catch-all,
particularly when they don't have a 1-800 phone number to
call for more information.

Today at a Canadian Tire in Ottawa they were unable to tell
me if the potting soil on sale  contained sewage sludge or not.
They recommended I buy another brand that was half the
amount at twice the price to be safe.  I didn't buy any.

Unfortunately, I am also cursed with the conscience of a retired
social worker. So it really bothers me to see all the unsuspecting
people buying potting soil with no awareness whatsoever that
it may contain sewage sludge.

Most city sludge contains an estimated 100,000  chemicals that
may be harmful to health and the environment, since it is a mixture
of household and industrial wastes and garbage dump leachate.
Batches are only tested for heavy metal levels.

Even though Class A sludge has been heat treated or composted
to kill pathogens, these germs can explosively regrow if the sludge
product is improperly handled, which does happen.   It's not the
sort of product you want to handle without gloves, and you sure
wouldn't want children messing with it.  I'm very concerned about
people using it to grow vegetables, considering that it can build
up heavy metal and other chemical concentrations in gardens.

If you check into this you'll find that carrots concentrate cadmium
at 5 times its level in soil, so that soil just below the allowable
level in sewage sludge "biosolids" is 5 times above that level
in carrots that are permitted to be grown in it. (In Ontario the
only crop that can't be grown in sewage sludge is tobacco).

The official "risk management view"  is that it's okay to use sludge
fertilizer because cadmium poisons the kidneys, and kidney failure
isn't a fatal disease because of kidney dialysis machines.  These
few cases are outweighed by the convenience of disposing of city
waste as fertilizer for fodder and food crops, without any need to
test to see what other toxins may be in sludged produce.
It's hard to keep one's cool thinking about this!

Anyway, I've spent the last 8 years of my life trying to get government
to landfill sewage because it is a toxic and pathogenic substance
making rural people sick and contaminating the environment. The
latest official research (done in 2005 but only now published)
measured up to 1/3 rd of pharmaceuticals in sludge leaching
through field tile drains into our creeks and lakes and rivers in
sufficient quantity to seriously harm amphibians and fish.

Two recent health studies, peer reviewed and published, also
confirm significantly higher illness levels within 1 km of sludge
spread fields (including 5 cases of MS and none in the control
group).  Yet Ontario plans to weaken the existing sludge
spreading "guidelines" by eliminating the role of both the
Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health, and viewing
this as purely an Agricultural Department concern. This
despite the fact that the Class B pathogenic sludge being
spread on farmland is a known incubator of drug resistant
superbugs such as staphylococcus aureus. Recent reseach
showed near half of MRSA is now being brought in from outside -
not surprising considering it's flushed down the toilets and
spread on foodland.

At the very least I think people have a right to know if the bagged
garden and potting soils  they are buying at stores like Canadian
Tire, Home Hardware, Loblaws etc. contain unlabelled sewage
sludge biosolids.  Any light you can shed on this would be very
helpful for all Canadians, and for Americans too. Now is the time
to research this, as the superstore shelves are stocked for Spring.

If you do pursue this, I'd be happy to point your researchers
to the relevant documents and most knowledgable people.
Our group was featured in the recent Desmarais film
documentary Tabou(e) or Sludge Diet in the English version.
Tabou(e) played at town hall meetings throughout Quebec
last summer. It's a good starting point for understanding the
problems with sludge use.

Cheers,
Jim Poushinsky
chair, Ottawa Citizens Against Pollution by Sewage
RR#1 Edwards, Ontario K0A1V0
e-mail: jpoushinsky at xplornet.com
tel. 613-821-2409