Sludge Watch ==> Ontario Sludge - Thanks But No Thanks

[Maureen Reilly]

Week of January 24, 2008

Thanks but no thanks

The Independent : serving Brighton and East Northumberland County

The spreading of human sewage on agricultural land in our communities needs 
to be brought to a halt. It is time for a moratorium. It might seem to 
councillors like a bold decision not meant for them. But they are mistaken. 
The task is theirs and theirs alone, as Prince Edward County has shown.

The move towards greater use of biosolids in Ontario over the last ten years 
has been piecemeal. The current system relies on a patchwork of local bodies 
to monitor safety. This approach has failed to build public confidence.

Sewage is dangerous. It contains chemicals, heavy metals, hormones, dioxins, 
and all manner of pathogens. The process for screening these out at the 
local treatment plant is imperfect. It is also untested against the latest 
cancer and biotechnology drugs. The United Nations Environment Programme 
advises that when biosolids are burned “the incineration process must be 
treated as a hazardous waste”. It is understandable that residents are 
becoming increasingly concerned about seeing this same waste blown across 
their countryside. These worries have been heightened by the call for an 
urgent study by a leading toxicologist who is treating four local couples 
thought to have ingested metal particles blown over from neighbouring fields 
sprayed with biosolids.

The case underlines what should be common sense to councillors: 
Northumberland County is not a suitable region for the spreading of 
biosolids on farm land. One of the most distinguishing and attractive 
features of our area is that rural and residential exist so closely 
side-by-side, thanks to the survival of small family farms. Even proponents 
of biosolids would agree ours is not the ideal environment to blow treated 
human sewage into the air. For starters they would recommend injecting it 
into the soil instead of spraying. But the fact that safer methods are 
available only serves to underline the need for a moratorium until a local 
approach matures and alternative applications in forestry and land 
reclamation are exhausted.

Remember too that only 6,000 acres of Ontario farmland are treated each 
year, according to the province. This is the equivalent of about six 
average-sized farms in Alberta, where you can safely wager any man in 
ten-gallon cowboy hat probably owns at least 6,000 acres. So, why do we take 
chances with public safety to treat the equivalent of one large farm? 
Because dumping the waste is the cheapest option for municipalities. Well, a 
few pennies savings on town rates is not worth the risk.

http://www.eastnorthumberland.com/article.php?id=1876