Thursday, February 26, 2009
Mixing food and waste isn't safe
From the RoundTable blog
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Thomas H. Hearn
Hearn lives on a farm in Fincastle and has a bachelor's degree in forestry and wildlife.
In the words of former President Ronald Reagan: There you go again, Rupert Cutler! Again, with the explanation of how good biosolids (sewage) are for local farmers.
As a local farmer and beef cattle operator, I take exception to his commentary ("Experts find biosolids safe to use on farmland," Feb. 3). I know what biosolids are and I have read the list of ingredients that are in this stuff. And it isn't as sweet as Cutler makes it out to be.
It is anything that can be flushed down the toilet or drain. It comes from hospitals, nursing homes, industrial businesses and everyday homes. It contains medicines, heavy metals (lead, cadmium, etc.) and antibiotics.
The Roanoke Times has written about toxic materials from industrial plants getting into the treatment plant and what harm they can do to the environment ("The harm done is done to us," April 24, 2007).
This material is applied with little or no state supervision. It has been applied on steep slopes, frequently flooded bottom land and even been just dumped instead of spread. The Roanoke Times even published a picture of a tanker truck doing this.
I have seen sludge from New Jersey being spread on local farms. I was informed that this material had received no treatment other than evaporation.
This material remains on the land virtually unchanged for at least 15 years (according to a study in England). If the same land gets repeated applications, it would get a buildup of contaminants over the years.
There was even a recent article stating that municipal waste and residue are "plaguing our rivers, lakes and streams with harmful bacteria, pesticides, mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals, making them unsafe for drinking, swimming or even dipping your toes into." ("Your water might not be clean," Feb. 5 commentary.)
I know that the treatment plants have to get rid of the sludge to make room for more. I would hope that our scientists and engineers could come up with a better method of disposal of this material than of just dumping it on 50,000 acres of farmland.
We must look closely at the experts' comments concerning the sludge. Notice the hedging and qualifications they state about "no causal link to illnesses" and "further study and research is needed" and looking at available information about land application.
Almost daily, we read about our food supply being contaminated in one way or another. We must consistently be aware of what we are doing that could contribute to this contamination.
