Sludge Watch ==> Sludge Spreading Concerns Valid

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludge spreading concerns valid, doctor says
Posted By Jack Evans
Northumberland Today
March 26, 2008
Trenton Ontario


Those opposed to spreading sewage sludge on area farmlands seem to have 
found a strong ally in some hard scientific facts.

Close to 50 people, farmers, rural dwellers and concerned citizens from as 
far as Picton, Campbellford and Belleville attended a meeting in Trenton 
where the speaker was Dr. Murray McBride, director of the Waste Management 
Institute of Cornell University in New York State.

Dr. McBride's background includes being raised on a farm near Goderich and 
formerly associated with the University of Guelph.

While cautiously avoiding absolute or extreme terms, Dr. McBride contended 
there are many known problems, and perhaps even worse, unknown problems 
associated with spreading municipal sewage sludge on farm lands.

The biggest problems are lack of adequate data and lack of funding or 
interest by government agencies to carry out proper studies, he said.

His presentation showed that the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency, and probably its counterparts in Ontario and other jurisdictions, 
use minimum standards that are many times higher than those recommended 
based on some scientific studies.

Standards set by such agencies also tend to overlook huge variables shown in 
sludges from various plants and areas and different soil conditions, he 
said.

"Sewage treatment plants are meant to clean water - not the actual sewage 
material itself," he affirmed. Thus, residues or chemicals, toxic 
substances, pathogens and metals remain in the sludge concentrates, often at 
levels far higher even than those standards allowed by protection agencies.

"I have had concerns about sludge spreading for some years," he said. While 
his concerns are wide-ranging in need for more caution and studies, his main 
conclusion at the meeting was "Sludge should not be spread on any dairy 
farm." He said some of the contaminants have the ability to be moved into 
fodder plants and into the milk. Dairy farms normally generate enough manure 
as natural fertilizer, also.

He said there is lack of research on movement in the soil and water tables 
of many substances, on the potential harm of many newly identified toxins, 
the effects of continued buildup, especially of "persistent" substances 
which do not readily dissipate or lose their potency.

Where there is no data on some substances, the USEPA simply concludes there 
is no problem, he said, assuming other governments do the same thing.


Most people are aware of the carcinogenic threat from PCBs, yet because they 
are no longer manufactured, those too are overlooked by the USEPA, even 
though large quantities remain in storage and some are often applied.

He said there are cases of areas of land, wildlife, earthworms and even 
herds of livestock have been decimated and farms closed down as a direct 
result of land contamination from sewage sludge despite protection laws and 
standards.

Some new "persistent" organics which have not been thoroughly studied are 
now even used in toothpaste, he said.

He said the measured results from all these unknowns could also be impacting 
human health, as well as soils and livestock.

He acknowledged that many known hazards, such as cadmium, have been 
drastically reduced by new manufacturing processes and admitted that at 
least some metallic residues are relatively benign.

There are many farm-associated problems where it is difficult to prove the 
cause, he said; he also said enforcement and monitoring are generally 
inadequate; and cited increased reports of unusual human illnesses as 
factors that make sludge spreading risks difficult to predict.

"We must look at options," he said.

One key question raised from the audience was what to do with the sludge.

Dr. McBride said landfill and/or incineration are both being used with 
reasonable success.

"What is a safe way?" asked Prince Edward Mayor Leo Finnegan.

"We have no definitive answer," said Michael Riordan, of the Picton-based 
Safe Water Group. He called for "all alternatives to be examined, studies to 
include environmental and health concerns as well as financial concerns."

He was referring to Prince Edward council's motion to hire a consultant to 
study the problem only from a financial aspect.

The meeting is one of a series being arranged in the area through a 
coalition of the National Farmers Union, Environmental Farmers Association 
of Ontario and other environmental action groups.


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