Sludge Watch ==> N-Viro sludge materials concern New York state residents

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

N-Viro mixes sewage sludge and cement kiln dust, lime kiln dust, and/or 
other industrial wastes together and calls it fertilizer, or lime 
ammendment, or topsoil etc.

What is frightening about this is that the company uses a wide variety of 
industrial inputs (spent foundry sand etc).  They utilize the Part 503 
sludge regs that require testing for only a few metals and are not required 
to test for very hazardous parameters like dioxins, thallium, beryllium, 
tin, cyanide etc.  They are not keen for the public to know that their 
'blends' that are not trademarked as 'N-Viro Soil TM' do not necessarily 
meet even the very permissive Part 503 requirements.

There are also risks associated with putting highly alkaline ammendments 
(high pH) on farm soils if those soils are already alkaline.  The high pH 
can make some toxic metals more available.  This is a particular risk on 
grazing lands and animal fodder and forage.

see scientific journal report below the story....

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Treated waste concerns Schuyler residents
January 26, 2008

By Cara Hoffman
Gannett News Service




Chemically treated human and municipal waste from the Syracuse area is being 
spread on fields in Schuyler County by Bergen Farms in a cost- saving move 
that has local residents alarmed and looking for information.

The waste contains unregulated heavy metals and PCBs, authorities said.

And the product, sold under the name Earth Blends or N-Viro Soil, 
manufactured by Waste Stream Environmental Inc. in Syracuse, may be as much 
of a mystery to the Bergens as it is to residents.

A crowd of concerned citizens packed the Mecklenburg Fire House on Wednesday 
night for a meeting run by the Community Dispute Resolution Center.

Sitting in folding chairs in the chilly fire hall, wearing coats and caps, 
the group of more than 80 had concerns that ranged from odor, quality of 
life issues and impact on real estate values, to potential well, ground 
water and watershed contamination to long-term health effects on humans and 
animals.

According to marketing materials on the N-Viro Web site, Earth Blends, which 
has a tagline of "mixtures of earthly good," is used as a "bio-organic and 
mineral fertilizer with agricultural liming and nutrient values."

Jim Bergen said his 2,200-head family-owned dairy operation is able to buy 
the product for $7 a ton, and though it is only half as effective as lime 
for regulating the pH levels of crops, it beats the $35 a ton the farm would 
pay for lime.

N-Viro goes through a number of treatment processes to neutralize E. coli 
and other pathogens before it becomes the dry product spread on crops.

But pathogens are a small part of the equation as Murray McBride, director 
of Cornell's Waste Management Institute, explained to residents.

Treating the sludge does not eliminate heavy metals such as arsenic, 
cadmium, lead, copper and mercury, and man-made chemicals such as PCBs, fire 
retardants and dioxin.

Those elements build up in the soil over time and accumulate in crops and in 
the bodies of animals that eat those crops.

McBride explained there are no EPA regulations on using these industrial and 
chemical pollutants in land application.

The EPA did, however, in a 2000 report from its inspector general's office, 
that it "cannot assure the public that current land application processes of 
sewage sludge are protective of human health and the environment."

The Bergens have been spreading N-Viro's sludge product on their fields in 
Odessa for 10 years.

In October 2007, they bought land at the southwest corner of Perry City Road 
and the intersections of routes 227 and 228 in Hector.

A month later they had spread 600 tons of the treated sludge on their 
fields.

Mark Ochs, a planner for Bergen Farms, said a lot of scrutiny goes into 
planning how the product is spread and that there is a buffer of land not 
fertilized with the product between Bergen Farm's fields and other 
properties to prevent possible contamination from runoff.

"There is a lot of oversight for these plans," Ochs said. "They are heavily 
science-based."

"The last thing we want to do is go around polluting someone's water 
source," said Skip Bergen.

But Bergen said he did not have all the answers about what the product 
contains.

"The problem is the EPA says it's OK to use this," said Bergen's brother, 
Jim.

He said he knew the product contained some heavy metals, but Wednesday's 
meeting was the first time he had ever heard the waste contained PCBs.

"We are not anti-farming," said Mecklenburg resident Harley Campbell. "We 
are against poor farming practices and poor regulations."

Campbell said the farmers were led to believe what they were doing was all 
right and it isn't.

"We need to ask the Bergens as neighbors not to use (N-Viro)," he said.

Skip Bergen nodded. "If people were really upset about it, I think that's 
something my brothers and I could sit down and talk about," he said.

http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/NEWS01/801260308


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For the complete report go to:
http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/33/1/133


TECHNICAL REPORTS
Heavy Metals in the Environment
Effect of Alkaline-Stabilized Biosolids on Alfalfa Molybdenum and Copper 
Content
Richard C. Stehouwer* and Kirsten E. Macneal
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, 
University Park, PA 16802-3504

* Corresponding author (rcs15 at psu.edu).

Received for publication May 30, 2002.

    ABSTRACT
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES


Agricultural utilization of biosolids poses a potential risk to ruminant 
animals due to transfer of Mo from biosolids to forage to the animal in 
amounts large enough to suppress Cu uptake by the animal. 
Alkaline-stabilized biosolids (ASB) must be given particular consideration 
in assessment of Mo risk because the high pH of these biosolids could 
increase Mo and decrease Cu uptake by forage legumes. In this 3-yr field 
experiment, ASB and ground agricultural limestone (AL) were applied based on 
their alkalinity at rates equivalent to 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 times the lime 
requirement of the soil and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was grown. Alfalfa 
yield was similar with AL and ASB except in the second year when ASB 
produced larger yields, apparently due to increased B availability with ASB. 
Application of ASB did not detectably increase extractable soil Mo (0- to 
15-cm depth), but increased alfalfa Mo uptake in all cuttings with 
yield-weighted uptake coefficients (UCs) of 8.07 and 7.11 following the 
first and second ASB applications, respectively. Although ASB increased 
extractable soil Cu, and alfalfa Cu content was greater with ASB than with 
AL, yield-weighted alfalfa Cu to Mo ratio was decreased by ASB to levels 
near 3. These results suggest that ASB may have a greater effect on Mo 
uptake and Cu to Mo ratio of forage legumes than do other biosolids. 
Additional research is needed to determine implications of larger Mo 
cumulative loading with ASB for Mo risk, particularly in the soil pH range 
of 7 to 8.


Abbreviations: ASB, alkaline-stabilized biosolids • AL, ground agricultural 
limestone • UC, uptake coefficient