Sludge Watch ==> Action alert - disclosure of toxic compounds in fertilizer

[Maureen Reilly]

WSDA "housekeeping" bill a clean sweep for fertilizer industry

Issue: Washington state - disclosure of toxic compounds in fertilizer

Dear Friends of Safe Food and Fertilizer:

Your help is urgently needed to stop legislation currently before the 
Washington State House and Senate that will remove record requirements and 
other consumer/farmer protections when hazardous waste is used in 
fertilizer.  Senate Bill 6194 and House Bill 2467 were introduced by the 
Washington State Department of Agriculture as "housekeeping only" and 
supported by the Far West Fertilizer Association.  The bills have moved 
unopposed through committee and HB 2467 has unanimously passed the House.

SB 6194 is now in the Senate Rules Committee.  Please call Senator Lisa 
Brown's office at 360-786-7604, in addition to your Senator, or quickly send 
an email to her at Brown.Lisa at leg.wa.gov  and ask her to OPPOSE this bill (a 
sample letter follows).  If you prefer you can leave a voice mail for your 
Senator/Representative or Senator Brown by calling the Legislative Hotline 
at 1-800-562-6000.

Please take time RIGHT NOW to pass this email along to everyone you know and 
ask them to contact both their State Senator, Representative and Senator 
Brown ASAP to OPPOSE SB 6194 and HB 2467.

Email contact information for both Representatives and Senators can be found 
at the following link:   http://www1.leg.wa.gov/legislature

To find your legislator:  http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx

SAMPLE LETTER
________________


Dear Rep/Senator  __:

I am writing to ask that you vote NO on companion bills SB 6194 and HB 2467. 
  These bills are erroneously being promoted by the WSDA as "housekeeping", 
when in reality they are a clean sweep from regulation for the fertilizer 
and waste brokering industries, placing consumers and farmers at risk and 
absolving the industries of liability in the event of damage or disease.

The language in the bill appears benign, but it is not.  By exempting 
"customer formula fertilizers" from registration the bill exempts them from 
the requirements of federal and state hazadous waste laws which is part of 
the state's registration process.

For example, the bill reduces the length of time a fertilizer manufacturer 
and/or distributor must retain records. Current regulations require that 
records be retained onsite for 5 years to correspond to the statute of 
limitations for damage claims under the Resource Conservation and Recovery 
Act. The bill reduces this record retention to 1 year essentially absolving 
the industry from liabilty in the event of damage or illness.

Additionally, customer formula fertilizers that contain more than one 
hazardous waste will inappropriately be exempted from the requirement that 
the "product" meet the most restrictive of the treatment standards for the 
wastes it contains.  Put in simple terms, this would mean that State 
Legislature believes that it is acceptable to land apply hazardous wastes to 
farm land and home lawns and gardens that could not legally be disposed in 
lined landfills!

Consumers and farmers have a right to know what is in the products they use 
on their land and exempting customer formula fertilizers from registration 
deprives them of this most basic information, without which they cannot 
protect themselves or their families.

Vote NO on SB 6194 and HB 2467.


Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,




Your name
Address
Phone Number

_______


Thank you.


Patty

Patricia Martin
Safe Food and Fertilizer


Safe Food and Fertilizer is a grassroots citizens' organization whose 
mission is to protect human health and the environment by advocating for a 
ban on the use of hazardous and other industrial wastes in fertilizer, soil 
amendments and animal feed.  Our goals are to seek the establishment of 
national standards protective of our most vulnerable populations, especially 
developing fetuses; to provide technical, regulatory, and educational 
assistance to organizations, individuals and elected officials locally, 
nationally and internationally; and to ensure that laws governing waste 
product recycling -- and hazardous and solid waste disposal -- are enforced 
at the state, federal and international levels, litigating when necessary to 
seek compliance.