Sludge and Fecal Pathogen Safety and Information

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Sludge and Fecal Pathogen Safety and Information Links

 

 

 

http://www.awwarf.com/exsums/90761.htm

 

Giardia Cyst and Cryptosporidium Oocyst Survival in Watersheds and

Factors Affecting Inactivation [Project #151]

 

....The physical factors that were most influential in parasite decline

were water temperature, and sunlight or blacklight. Within the

confines of the study, the chemical composition of water did not play

a large role in oocyst decline. The greatest decline observed was

attributable to biological components, between 0.2 and 5 mm in

diameter, present in the natural waters tested. However, results

varied between watersheds and seasons. Generally, Giardia muris

appeared more sensitive to stressors than did Cryptosporidium. Aged or

stressed oocysts were no less resistant to disinfection than those

freshly shed. ...

 

http://www.owwa.com/Publications/2001_Conference/npokorny.pdf

 

Cryptosporidium parvum, an apicomplexan protozoa parasite, has become

increasingly regarded as a disease-causing agent of humans and other

mammals in the global community. Infection in mammals is via the

fecal-oral route, whether it be through contaminated food or water,

resulting in symptoms of copious amounts of diarrhea, abdominal

cramping, and fever. In healthy individuals, infection is

self-limiting, generally lasting 1 to 2 weeks. However, in the

imunocompromised, the infection becomes chronic and due to

dehydration, can be potentially fatal. Because of C. parvum?s

resistance to chlorine treatment of water, methods to detect the

presence of the parasite in the water supply have become more

important. ...

 

http://geoflow.com/wastewater/pathogens.htm

 

PATHOGENS IN RECLAIMED WATER

 

M. V. Yates

 

University of California Riverside

 

The need to conserve water has resulted in an increase in the use of

treated sewage effluent, or reclaimed water, for many non-potable

purposes. However, reclaimed water may contain potentially harmful

contaminants with which the user must be familiar in order to minimize

detrimental environmental or human health effects. The focus of this

paper is on human pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms that may

be present in reclaimed water. ...

 

Table 1. Bacterial Pathogens in Wastewater ...

 

Table 2. Viral Pathogens in Wastewater ...

 

Table 3. Parasitic Pathogens in Wastewater ...

 

Treatment of wastewater can effect from 50% to almost 100% pathogen

removal, depending on the treatment processes used. A summary of

average pathogen concentrations reported to be present after several

stages of sewage treatment is presented in Table 4. It can be seen

that even tertiary treatment (consisting of primary sedimentation,

trickling filter/activated sludge, disinfection, coagulation, direct

filtration, and chlorination) does not remove all pathogens. It is

important to consider the infective dose of the organism in relation

to the final concentration when assessing the potential public health

risk associated with use of reclaimed water. It is relatively unlikely

that the two Salmonella organisms would cause disease, considering

that the infective dose is more than 1000 organisms. On the other

hand, the final concentrations of viruses and Giardia are sufficiently

high to cause several people to become ill if they ingested the water.

 

Table 4. Pathogen Removal by Wastewater Treatment ...

 

There are several ways in which an individual can acquire disease from

wastewater use. Direct ingestion of the wastewater or aerosols created

during spray irrigation may result in infection. In addition,

infection may occur from ingestion of pathogens on contaminated

vegetation or other surfaces. Another potential route of exposure is

from the ingestion of ground water that has been contaminated by

pathogens in irrigation water. Indeed, viruses have been detected in

ground water located 27.5m below a site irrigating crops with

reclaimed water.

 

In order for infection or disease to result from exposure to reclaimed

wastewater, however, several conditions must be met. In addition to

surviving the sewage treatment process (Table 4), the pathogens must

also survive in the environment for a sufficient period of time to be

exposed to a susceptible host. Table 5 lists the results of several

studies that have investigated the length of time various pathogens

could be detected in an infective form on the surface of several

crops. In all cases, the experiments were performed by adding the

pathogens to crops growing in the field.

 

Table 5. Pathogen Survival on Crops ...

 

Table 7. Disease Outbreaks Associated with Sewage-Contaminated Plants

Disease Plant Water Source ~ Year

Typhoid fever celery sewage sludge irrigation 1899

Typhoid fever raw vegetables, fruit sewage-polluted water 1911

Typhoid fever vegetables, blackberries sewage irrigation 1919

Typhoid fever raw vegetables sewage irrigation 1923

Amebiasis vegetables sewage irrigation 1934

Typhoid fever vegetables secondary effluent 1942

Shigellosis cabbage primary effluent 1946

Ascariasis vegetables sewage spray irrigation 1947

Typhoid fever apples sewage irrigation 1953

Salmonellosis vegetables sewage irrigation 1954

Hookworm vegetables sewage farming 1955

Typhoid fever vegetables, fruit sewage 1957

Salmonellosis grass sewage flooding 1972

Cholera vegetables sewage irrigation 1973

....

 

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/escherichiacoli_g.htm

 

Escherichia coli O157:H7

 

.... Among other known sources of infection are consumption of sprouts,

lettuce, salami, unpasteurized milk and juice, and swimming in or

drinking sewage-contaminated water. ...

 

http://vric.ucdavis.edu/veginfo/foodsafety/foodsafety.htm

 

Microbial Food Safety IS Your Responsibility! Farming practices that

emphasize the use of animal manure, manure slurries or " teas " , and

animal manure-based compost play an important role in the recycling of

organic nutrients and developing a rich soil structure. Due to the

increasing frequency of outbreaks of food-borne pathogens, we are very

concerned with a different type of recycling through our agricultural

production systems. The recycling of bacterial pathogens and protozoan

parasites from animals to humans through water, soil and crops has

created a serious challenge for producers, processors, and consumers

of fresh produce. Researchers at the University of California, Davis

and other academic, government, and private institutions are beginning

to address the key information needs in understanding the

environmental persistence and control points for these pathogens of

global concern.

 

During a single 1996 Escherichia coli (E. coli) outbreak in Japan,

nine people died, 30 people were reported in critical condition, and a

total of 8,500 cases were recorded. The suspected cause of the

outbreak was salad, with sprouted radish seeds being the primary

suspected source of the foodborne contamination (Hara-Kudo et.al. 1997).

 

Closer to home in Montana that same year, another E. coli outbreak

occurred. Leaf lettuces were the identified culprits. Affecting more

than 70 people, this outbreak was associated with consumption of leafy

red, green, and Romaine lettuce. Though not proved conclusively as the

source, concern was raised for the potential risk of contaminated

irrigation water or manure-amended soil.

 

Irrigation water or water used for foliar applications are the

suspected sources of a recent outbreak of the parasite Cyclospora on

imported raspberries and domestically produced mesclun ( " spring mix "

baby greens and leafy lettuces). From May to June 1997 over 200

laboratory confirmed cases and more than 600 clinically suspected

cases of Cyclosporiasis have occurred.

 

To keep things in perspective, it is important to strongly emphasize

that the number of cases of foodborne illness known or suspected to

involve fresh produce are extremely few, relative to meat and poultry

sources. The majority of confirmed cases that involve produce are the

result of poor handling practices at the foodservice or home consumer

level (FSIS-40, 1990; CDC, 1997; Harris, 1997) . The frequency is

increasing, however, and the increased consumption of uncooked fruits

and vegetables elevated the risk of exposure because there are limited

process controls available to protect the consumer.

 

Without question, foodborne illness has emerged as a major worldwide

issue impacting production, processing, domestic and export marketing,

and consumer confidence in the food supply (Beuchat, 1996; CDC, 1997).

Regulators view documentation, from field to fork, as a key element of

a systemic approach to limiting the impact of an outbreak to the

smallest component of the industry possible. The ability to rapidly

and accurately traceback the presumptive or clinically proven

,produce-related outbreak to its source would prevent consumers from

avoiding all sources of the same produce category. Regulatory access

to such documentation may also prevent a nonspecific broadcast to the

media to activate a consumer alert during an outbreak investigation.

To begin to construct such a system, prevention and control programs

for food safety must be implemented down to the farm level.

Agricultural producers of all sizes will in the immediate future be

increasingly charged with establishing and documenting methods of

microbial risk reduction and prevention. ...

 

http://www.stop-usa.org/whatis.html

 

S.T.O.P.'s mission is to prevent unnecessary illness and loss of life

from pathogenic foodborne illness. We believe that in the United

States today, people should not be made seriously ill, permanently

injured or killed by pathogens such as bacteria or viruses in our

food. S.T.O.P. does not take a stand on other types of food safety

issues such as pesticides.

 

Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and

thousands of deaths in the United States. Although no one is safe,

those with weakened immune systems, particularly children and the

elderly, are most vulnerable to death or permanent disability. ...

 

http://www.stop-usa.org/illness/diseases.html

 

Foodborne Illness in the United States

 

The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that

foodborne illness is responsible for as many as 9000 deaths annually

in the United States. However, the prevalence and exact proportions of

diarrheal illnesses relative to each other is unclear. For example, a

February 1997 Sentinel Site Study conducted by the CDC covered only

seven pathogens. These statistics were gathered under controlled

circumstances looking specifically for Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7,

Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio and Yersinia. The results

implied that...

 

" Campylobacter is the most frequently isolated bacterium from persons

with diarrhea (45%), Salmonella is second (30%), Shigella is third

(17%); and E. coli O157:H7 is fourth (5%). "

 

In contrast, each year, the state of California gathers statistics on

all diseases reported to authorities. The foodborne illness data

gathered by authorities are skewed by many factors including whether

labs routinely test for the pathogens, whether pathogens are detected

and whether in fact confirmed disease cases are reported. Indeed,

foodborne illness is known to be underreported by 2 to 20 times

reported figures. For 1996, California statistics looked like:

 

Disease Cases

Botulism-Foodborne 3

Botulism-Infantile 35

Campylobacter 8220

Cryptosporidium 470

Cyclospora N/A

E. coli O157:H7 184

Hepatitis A 6653

Listeria 95

Salmonella 6544

Shigella 3952

Vibrios (all) 61

 

....

 

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol5no5/taormina.htm

 

Sprout-Associated Outbreaks Seed sprouts have been implicated as

vehicles of transmission in outbreaks of foodborne illness (Table 1).

One of the first reported outbreaks, in 1973, was associated with

sprouts grown by using a home sprouting kit (3). Soy, mustard, and

cress sprouts submitted by one person with gastrointestinal illness

were found to contain large numbers of aerobic spore-forming bacteria.

Bacteriologic examination of seeds in previously unopened sprouting

kits revealed that the soy seeds were contaminated with Bacillus

cereus in pure culture, while the mustard and cress seeds had B.

cereus as a minor part of their flora. After germination, all the

sprouts contained large numbers of the pathogen. Fecal specimens from

patients were not analyzed for B. cereus because the laboratory that

processed the samples did not consider it an enteric pathogen.

Bacteriologic investigation revealed that during seed germination B.

cereus proliferated to >107 per g of sprouts. In 1987, Harmon et al.

(4) recovered B. cereus from 57% of commercially sold alfalfa, mung

bean, and wheat seeds intended for sprout production. ...

 

Salmonellosis ... In 1995, a large international outbreak of S.

Stanley infections in Finland and 17 states in the United States was

caused by alfalfa sprouts grown from contaminated seeds (10). S.

Stanley isolates from patients in Finland and the United States had an

indistinguishable DNA pattern by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

(PFGE) and an unusual antimicrobial resistance pattern that was

identical among outbreak strains but differed from S. Stanley strains

isolated from nonoutbreak-related cases. Sprouts that caused the

outbreaks in both countries were grown from seeds obtained from the

same shipper in The Netherlands, suggesting the seeds were

contaminated at some point during growing, harvesting, or processing. ...

 

Table 1. Reported outbreaks of illness associated with seed sprouts,

1973--1998 ...

 

In Finland, eight sprout-borne Salmonella outbreaks occurred from 1980

to 1997 (8). In 1994, two large outbreaks of salmonellosis were linked

to alfalfa sprouts (282 cases in Sweden and 210 cases in Finland) (9).

Both outbreaks were caused by S. Bovismorbificans; the implicated

sprouts were grown from Australian alfalfa seeds. ...

 

In 1995, a large international outbreak of S. Stanley infections in

Finland and 17 states in the United States was caused by alfalfa

sprouts grown from contaminated seeds (10). S. Stanley isolates from

patients in Finland and the United States had an indistinguishable DNA

pattern by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and an unusual

antimicrobial resistance pattern that was identical among outbreak

strains but differed from S. Stanley strains isolated from

nonoutbreak-related cases. Sprouts that caused the outbreaks in both

countries were grown from seeds obtained from the same shipper in The

Netherlands, suggesting the seeds were contaminated at some point

during growing, harvesting, or processing. ...

 

In June 1996, the largest recorded sprout-associated outbreak in the

United States occurred in California, resulting in >450

culture-confirmed cases of infection with Salmonella serotypes

Montevideo and Meleagridis (13). The same strain of S. Meleagridis was

isolated from patients and from alfalfa sprouts obtained from retail

stores and the sprouting facility. Investigation at the sprouter

revealed unsanitary sprouting practices and suboptimal employee

hygiene. At the farm where the implicated alfalfa seed was grown,

chicken manure was used to fertilize the field before planting. Horses

grazed in adjacent fields, and their manure was collected and stored

next to the alfalfa field. ...

 

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Infection Escherichia coli O157:H7

infection has also been related to eating sprouts. In the world's

largest reported outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections, which

occurred in Japan in 1996, white (daikon) radish sprouts were

epidemiologically linked to approximately 6,000 of the nearly 10,000

cases reported (16). The pathogen was not detected in cultures of

implicated seeds. In the following year, white radish sprouts were

again implicated in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infection affecting

126 people in Japan (17).

 

In July 1997, simultaneous outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infection in

Michigan and Virginia were linked by independent epidemiologic

investigations with eating alfalfa sprouts grown from the same lot of

seeds (18). Molecular subtyping by PFGE revealed that strains from

outbreaks in both states were indistinguishable. The simultaneous

occurrence of two geographically distinct outbreaks linked to the same

lot of alfalfa seeds and caused by the same strain of E. coli O157:H7

strongly suggested that contaminated seeds were the source.

 

In June 1998, a cluster of E. coli O157:NM infections in Northern

California and Arizona was associated with eating an alfalfa and

clover sprout mixture produced by the same sprouter implicated in the

S. Senftenberg outbreak (Mohle-Boetani J, pers. comm.). E. coli

O157:NM isolates from the patients had indistinguishable PFGE

patterns. ...

 

http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/nsa/nsa114.html

 

Toxic Sludge: Timeline to Disaster ...

 

http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/nsa/nsa112.html

 

Deception - Deceit - Diversion ...

 

http://www.txpeer.org/Bush/Home_On_The_Range.html

 

Home on the Range at the Nation's Largest Sewage Dump Texas has the

dubious distinction of leading the nation in a number of areas of

environmental degradation including the toxic air emissions of cancer

causing chemicals. What is less well known is that Texas is home to

the nation's largest sewage sludge dump. This week, Texas PEER

examines how Sierra Blanca a small town on the U.S./Mexico border,

became the resting place for New York City's sewage. Additionally,

this segment will focus on how Gov. George W. Bush's environmental

regulatory appointees and former staffers ignored local health

concerns and illegal dumping to support tripling New York's waste

being dumped in the Lonestar State. ...

 

In 1999, Merco admitted that it had spread sludge from New York that

had not been properly treated to reduce pathogens - a state and

federal requirement. (4) Merco had previously been caught spreading

untreated sludge and fined $12,800 in 1994, a sum unlikely to deter

illegal dumping on a contract valued at $168 million dollars over five

years. Instead of requiring that the sludge be treated before it is

shipped, as is required by law, the TNRCC simply suggested that Merco

mix the untreated sludge with lime on site to bring the pathogen

levels up to Class B standards. " Friends of mine that work at Merco

tell me that Merco still occasionally spreads sludge without mixing it

with lime first, " says Addington. (5) ...

 

http://www.ecologycenter.org/terrain/2000fall/earthy.html

 

The " Earthy " Smell of Bush's Texas

 

.... How New York City's sludge -- toxic, foul-smelling, and loaded

with live pathogens -- got to Sierra Blanca tells us a lot about the

way poor, minority-dominated communities in America become dumping

grounds for the powerful. And it also speaks volumes about Governor

Bush?s shameless political panderings.

 

.... The permit allowed Merco to dump more than 200 tons of wet sewage

sludge every day. There were problems almost immediately. The air

began to stink, causing residents who lived more than 20 miles from

the dump to gag from the odor. Property values dropped and some

ranches close to the dump simply couldn?t be sold. Then people began

developing skin rashes, blisters, and unusual cases of influenza.

Complaints to the state environmental agencies went unheeded. ?The

chemical vapors mixed with a fecal smell are indescribable, except to

say it smells like death,? says Bill Addington, a Sierra Blanca

resident and environmental organizer. ?The Texas Air Control Board

came down and told us it was just the smell of cow patties.?

 

.... Naturally, Merco?s management of the dump didn?t improve. In 1999,

the company admitted that it had violated federal and state

regulations by not properly treating the New York City sewage sludge

for bacteria and pathogens. So far Merco has escaped any punishment

for this violation. This was the second time Merco had been caught. In

1994, it was fined a paltry $12,800 by the state of Texas for dumping

untreated sludge, which can carry E. coli, salmonella, and

tuberculosis. In 1996, there was an outbreak of a New York flu virus

in Van Horn, Texas, 30 miles east of the dumpsite. ?We feel like

guinea pigs,? Addington says.

 

....

 

http://www.friendsofthecreek.org/these_times_article.htm

 

NIGHTMARE SOIL IN THESE TIMES MAGAZINE ? OCTOBER 16, 1998

 

....These products have all undergone linguistic detoxification. Sewer

sludge, which was once considered hazardous waste and judged too

dangerous to be used on food crops, has been deregulated by the EPA

and redefined as an agricultural fertilizer. And fertilizers, as

marketable producer are exempt from the laws that govern the disposal

of hazardous waste. In effect, the EPA has found a way to make the

waste problem that once plagued 15,000 publicly owned sewer plants

disappear, at least in name. Each year about 4 million metric tons of

municipal sludge-- about half of the total produced annually in the

United Stares--are dumped on farm land. That sludge is derived chiefly

from human excreta and from the water wastes of 130,000 industrial

plants. Typically, municipal sewer sludge contains PCBS, dangerous

pesticides such as chlordane, chlorinated compounds such as dioxin,

heavy metals such as arsenic and lead, viruses such as Hepatitis A,

eggs of parasitic worms, etc. Cornell University's Toxic Chemical

Laboratory recently tested SO municipal sludges and found that

two-thirds contained asbestos. " You test it and you find so

much--dioxin, PCBS, DDT, asbestos --- it's an endless list, " says

Cornell toxicologist Donald Lisk. ?Urban sewer sludge is a huge problem. "

 

In fact, according to the Archives of Environmental Contamination and

Toxicology, of 30 municipal sludges analyzed in 1983 only seven were

considered suitable for land application. The sludge from the other 23

plants contained elevated levels of one or more heavy metals, such as

lead and cadmium. But that was ,using the older, more stringent standards.

 

The EPA began the linguistic detoxification of sewage sludge in 1984,

when it issued a beneficial sludge use and disposal policy that

permitted the controlled use of treated sewage as fertilizer. In 1993,

new regulations governing this sludge policy were written into 'Part

503 " of the Clean Water Act. These regulations, which in the sludge

community are referred to as " 503, " further redefined the waste,

deeming it " clean " enough for unrestricted use in America's gardens

and fields.

 

This transformation occurred, not because the sludge was suddenly

cleaner--though better treatment methods have helped to lower the

concentrations of some heavy -metals-but because the EPA raised the

limits of acceptable exposure to some pollutants so that most of the

nation's sludge could be classified as " clean.?

 

.... The EPA is also ignoring the threat to public safety posed by

biologic pathogens that enter sludge through human and animal

excrement. In l989, the EPA documented the presence of 25 infectious

agents in sewage sludge: five bacteria (including Salmonella), nine

viruses (including Hepatitis A), five intestinal worms (such as

tapeworms and hookworms), five protozoa (one of these,

Cryptosporidium, killed 100 people in Milwaukee) and one fungi

(Aspergillus, which also can be fatal). According to the EPA, " If

sewage sludge containing high levels of pathogenic organisms or high

concentrations of pollutants is improperly handled, the sludge could

contaminate the soil, water, crops livestock, fish and shellfish. "

 

Because of the dangers from human and animal pathogens, the EPA, when

writing 503, divided sludge fertilizer into two grades, A and B. Grade

A, considered an " exceptional quality " fertilizer by the EPA, is

heat-treated to reduce disease-bearing organisms. The use of grade A

fertilizer is totally -unregulated. It can be freely applied on all

lawns and human-food crops. Grade B fertilizer, because it has not

been heat-treated, is only allowed on above-ground crops such as wheat

and corn. Despite these gradations, the exceptionally pure grade A has

just as many chemical contaminants as grade B does.

 

And, ironically, the heat-treating responsible for grade A's

" exceptional quality " is an ineffective method of killing bacteria,

viruses and parasite eggs. According to a 1992 study by a group of

University of Arizona soil scientists present sludge-treatment methods

do not effectively kill human pathogens. The researchers concluded:

" Significant numbers of pathogens exist in sludge even after

stabilization and treatment. If these pathogens can remain viable for

extended periods of time, groundwater sources beneath sludge disposal

sites may become contaminated.

 

Once in groundwater, they may travel significant distances from the

site. ?Viruses [which can survive in the ground for months], because

of their small size, probably have the greatest potential of all

pathogens for actually reaching groundwater and being transported from

the site.?

 

Sludge from New York City is particularly infected with human

pathogens. Eleven of New York?s 14 sewage-treatment plants are not up

to modern treatment standards. Half were built in the 1930?s. In

addition, the city does not know how many industries discharge waste

into the municipal sewer system. City environmental officials regulate

only 1,090 industrial plants, and estimate that there might be another

2,000 that are unregulated.

 

New York City?s waste is so contaminated that the state?s Department

of Enviromnental Conservation will not allow it to be applied on land

in New York. The sludge is also too dirty for Pennsylvania or Ohio.

So, New York City had to go further afield to find a state willing to

take its sludge. To help in this quest, the city hired a Long Island

firm, Merco Joint Venture Co. ...

 

http://www.friendsofthecreek.org/azreport.htm

 

Hazards from Pathogenic Microorganisms in Land-Disposed Sewage Sludge

 

.... Pathogens of Concern

 

Raw sewage may contain a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms.

The pathogens include bacteria, viruses, protozoa, helminths, and

fungi, all of which can be expected to be present in raw, primary, and

secondary sludges. Pathogens of concern are listed in Tables 1 and 2.

It should be recognized that the list of pathogens is not constant. As

advances in analytical techniques and changes in society have

occurred, new pathogens are recognized and the significance of

well-known ones changes. Microorganisms are subject to mutation and

evolution, allowing for adaptation to changes in their environment. In

addition, many pathogens are viable but nonculturable by current

techniques (Rozak and CoIwell 1987), and actual concentrations in

sludge are probably underestimated. Thus, no assessment of the risks

associated with the land application of sewage sludge can ever be

considered to be complete when dealing with microorganisms. As new

agents are discovered and a greater understanding of their ecology is

developed, we must be willing to reevaluate previous assumptions.

 

.... The main factor controlling the fate of pathogens would be

temperature and time. Temperatures within the pile are extreme enough

to inactivate enteric viruses 3-4 log10 [(Cramer and Burge 1975; Ward

and Ashley 1978); cited by Pederson (1983)], indicator bacteria 3-4

log10 [Epstein et al. 1976; Lacoboni and LeBrun 1977); cited by

Pederson (1983)], and possibly protozoan and helminth parasites (i.e.,

3 log10 for Ascaris lumbricoides at temperatures of 50 0C for 1 hr)

[Cramer and Burge 1975); cited by Pederson (1983)]. However,

temperatures at the outer edges of the pile are not expected to be

lethal to microorganisms, and the pile could become reinoculated by

turning the pile. In fact, even at the center, where the temperatures

are the most extreme, the number of viable and culturable mesophiles

can be in excess of 108/g of compost (Atlas and Bartha 1987). The

regrowth of bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella is also a possibility.

 

A fourth method for treating sludge is lime stabilization (Pederson

1983). In this process, liquid sewage sludge is mixed with a

sufficient amount of lime to raise the pH to 12.0 for at least 2 hr.

At this pH, the NH4 + ion is deprotonated, resulting in the production

of ammonia gas. The combination of high pH and ammonia can reduce

enteroviruses by four orders of magnitude (Sattar et al. 1976),

coliform indicator bacteria two to seven orders of magnitude (Counts

and Shuckrow 1974), but very little reduction of fecal streptococcus

indicator bacteria exists (Counts and Shuckrow 1974), and no reduction

of parasites (Remiers et al. 1980).

 

Other nonconventional treatment or disinfection processes such as heat

drying, pasteurization, heat treatment, and y-irradiation will also

act to reduce the numbers of pathogens present in sludge before

disposal. Their effectiveness on pathogen removal is discussed by Ward

et al. (1984).

 

.... The possible exposure pathways by which infectious microorganisms

may come into contact with humans during the operation of sludge

landfills or sludge amendment to agricultural soil are shown in Fig.

2. The consequence of exposure to one or more routes of transmission

is dependent on the likelihood of a significant number of

microorganisms being present in sludge that might result in infection.

All of the pathogens present in sludge may follow the pathways

illustrated in Fig. 2; however, it is unlikely that significant

numbers are transmitted by all pathways.

 

Exposure of personnel may occur through direct contact with sludge or

exposure to aerosols generated during burial. Aerosols could also be

transported downwind to exposure areas distant from the disposal site.

Aerosols containing viable microorganisms also represent a means of

direct contamination of clothing and equipment. Microorganisms may

leach from buried sludge with infiltrating water to contaminate

groundwater. Exposure of the sludge to the surface would result in the

generation of runoff, which may transport sludge particles to nearby

surface waters. It is also possible that, if the site becomes

saturated with water, surface leachate contamination will occur.

Burrowing animals could come into contact with the buried or injected

sludge and birds could be exposed to the sludge before burial. These

animals could transport sludge material off site or expose it to the

surface. The translocation of viruses from plant roots to aerial parts

of the plant is another potential pathway.

 

Many enteric microorganisms can effectively be transmitted by

aerosols. Aerosols of enteric organisms are generated during sewage

treatment and the spraying of sewage effluents and sludges onto land

(Pahren and Jakubowski 1980). Organisms in such aerosols can be

transmitted by inhalation or human contact with contaminated surfaces.

 

The number of microorganisms in aerosols depends on the type of sludge

disposed, method of application, and number of microorganisms in the

sludge. The greatest amount of aerosol generation would occur during

the application of sludges with a low solids content applied as

slurries during spray application. Dumping of sludges from trucks onto

the soil or into trenches and area rills would also generate aerosols

on impact. Some aerosoling would occur during the injection of sludge.

Greater numbers of pathogenic microorganisms would be aerosoled during

disposal of primary rather than treated sludges.

 

.... Moisture effects in soil systems are of major importance in

bacterial decline. Kibbey et al. (1978) found that bacterial survival

rates for Streptococcus faecalis and Salmonella typhimurium increased

with increasing moisture content at several different temperatures.

When sludges are buried, soil moisture loss is probably minimized

(Crane and Moore 1984) . Bacterial survival would apparently be

greatest under saturated conditions (Boyd et al. 1969; Kibbey et al.

1978). Nutrient supply, organic matter, and percolating water also

affect the rate of bacterial die-off. A major reason for enteric

bacterial die-off outside of the host intestinal tract is probably

their inability to lower their metabolic requirements to a lower

nutrient availability (Klein and Casida 1967). Mall- man and Litsky

(1951) felt that the organic content of sludge enhanced bacterial

survival. The survival of fecal coliforms is greatly extended in

organic soils over that observed in mineral SoilS Crate 1978), and the

regrowth of S. typhimurium and E. Coil has been observed in buried

feces Cremple et al. 1980).

 

Of all pathogenic bacteria, Salmonella survival has been studied most

extensively (Feachem et al. 1983). They can survive in animal

slurries, sludges, and soils for many months under ideal conditions

(high moisture, low temperatures). Salmonella in sludge applied to

arid land persisted for 6-7 wk (Watson 1980). Hess and Breer (1975)

reported that salmonellae on grass treated with sludge could survive

up to 16 mon in the climate of Switzerland, but most reported times

are shorter. Salmonella can multiply vigorously in sterilized sludge

or slurry, but under natural conditions growth is limited or strongly

inhibited by the activity of microflora (Findlay 1973).

 

.... Helminths

 

The general consensus is that ascaris eggs are the most resistant of

all enteric pathogens to adverse environmental conditions after land

application (Cram 1943; Jackson et al. 1977; Meyer et al. 1978).

Several researchers have observed extended survival times of ascaris

eggs in soils: 4 yr (Griffith 1978) and at least 3 yr (Jackson et al.

1977) .

 

Helminths have been observed to survive on a drying bed for 66 d

(Wright et al. 1942) . Soil moistures of <75% (Rudolfs et al. 1951)

and 20% (Reimers et al. 1981) were lethal to Ascaris eggs. The lowest

moisture levels at which all Ascaris eggs were inactivated were

seasonal: 5% in fail, 7% in winter, 8% in spring, and 15% in summer

(Reimers et al. 1981). Eggs were observed to survive for 60-80 d when

the moisture content of the soil was <6%, and the temperature was >40

?C (Cram 1943). Refrigerated Ascaris eggs have survived for >20 yr

(Jackson et al. 1977). Trichuris eggs may remain viable on soil for 6

yr (Griffith 1978). Hookworm eggs survived 60-80 d with soil

conditions of 6% moisture and >40 ?C as with Ascaris eggs (Cram 1943)

.. At 45 ?C, hookworm larvae survive <1 hr; at 0 ?C <2 wk; and at - 11

0C <24 hr. Hookworms survive best in shaded sandy or loam soils

covered by vegetation, protected from drying and excess wetness. Clay

soil, which packs tightly, is unsuitable for hookworm survival (Metro

1983). One investigation studied the survival of Taenia saginata eggs

in sewage, water, liquid manure, and on grass. Survival times were 16,

33, 71, and 159 d, respectively (Metro 1983).

 

.... It would also appear that many pathogens are capable of prolonged

survival in sludges, especially at. low temperature and high moisture

conditions (Straub et al. 1992; Pepper et al. 1991). Indicator

bacteria (coliforms and fecal coliforms) have survived for years in

sludge and codisposal landfills (Donnelly and Scarpino 1984). The high

level of organic matter probably results in the survival and growth of

indicator bacteria. Bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella are also

capable of growth in sterilized sludges (Ward et al. 1984), although

this appears unlikely in digested sludges because of the large number

of antagonistic bacteria. Under ideal conditions, viruses and

parasites may be expected to survive for months to years, especially

if the subsurface temperature is <10 0C.

 

.... Summary

 

Sewage sludge is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds

of biological and mineral origin that are precipitated from wastewater

and sewage during primary, secondary, and tertiary sewage treatment.

Present in these sludges are significant numbers of microorganisms

that include viral, bacterial, protozoan, fungal, and helminth

pathogens. The treatment of sludge to reduce biochemical oxygen

demand, solids content, and odor is not always effective in reducing

numbers of pathogens. This becomes a public health concern because the

infectious dose for some of these pathogens may be as low as 1

particle (virus) to 5O organisms (Giardia). When sludge is applied to

land for agricultural use and landfill compost, these pathogens can

survive from days (bacteria) to months (viruses) to years (Helminth

eggs), depending on environmental conditions. Shallow aquifers can

become contaminated with pathogens from sludge and, depending on

groundwater flow, these organisms may travel significant distances

from the disposal site. Communities that rely on groundwater for

domestic use can become exposed to these pathogens, leading to a

potential disease outbreak.

 

http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi/PDFS/LandApp.pdf

 

CORNELL WASTE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

 

THE CASE FOR CAUTION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LAND APPLICATION OF SEWAGE

SLUDGES AND AN APPRAISAL OF THE US EPA?S PART 503 SLUDGE RULES

 

http://www.chelseagreen.com/DP/DirtyExcerpt.htm

 

Home on the Range For the Nation's Largest Sewage Dump

 

Although Texas is well known for leading the nation in certain kinds

of pollution, few people know that Texas is the resting place for

hundreds of thousand of tons of New York City sewage sludge, and is

home to the nation's and the world's largest sewage sludge dump. The

100,000-acre dumpsite is located near the small town of Sierra Blanca,

in West Texas...

 

http://www.greens.org/s-r/17/17-01.html

 

A Green Candidate for Governor of Texas by Susan Lee Solar, Austin Greens

 

I am running to assure there is a clear alternative to corporate

politics as usual. I want the public to know the role Governor Bush

and his appointed commissioners have played in promoting projects that

are rapidly turning West Texas into Waste Texas and our interstates

into radioactive routes for nuclear power and nuclear weapons waste,

while assuring us they are protecting our safety. It's not only

designated nuclear waste threatening our health and environment, but

sewer sludge from out of state which besides carrying organic

pathogens and heavy metals, may also contain levels of radioactivity

significant enough to damage immune systems and cause cancer. ...

 

http://texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=324

 

....THE END OF SHIT. After almost a decade of on-time (but not eagerly

awaited) deliveries, Sierra Blanca's poo-poo choo-choo will shut down

this month. Since 1992, the train has hauled in roughly 450 tons of

New York City sewage sludge (that's shit to you and me) per day, which

the Merco Joint Ventures company has spread on 80,000 acres of desert

surrounding Sierra Blanca, the tiny town 100 miles southeast of El

Paso better known for it's long, successful fight against a state

nuclear waste dump. Local residents, led by Bill Addington, fought the

sludge operation for years with little success, butting up against the

same permissive state environmental agency that sought to bring

nuclear waste to the area. New York's sewage sludge is known for its

high toxicity, due in part to the heavy metals found in the sewer

system there. Area residents also complained about wind-borne

pathogens from the sludge, which becomes flaky and dusty (and smelly)

as it dries in the desert. Sludge opponents also had to contend with

Hudspeth County Judge James Peace, who welcomed any kind of dumping,

nuclear, sewage, or otherwise, as sound economic development.

 

In the end it was a business decision that killed the sludge dump: It

turned out to be uneconomic for New York to transport its waste 2,500

miles for disposal. (Who knew?) According to the Big Bend Sentinel,

New York will still be shipping their waste to other states, just not

quite so far. Merco was their most expensive contract. James Peace

(who does not live in Sierra Blanca) lamented the loss, claiming that

the economically depressed county will lose 39 jobs. Many of those

workers, Addington pointed out, were actually from nearby Van Horn or

El Paso. Still, Merco will be missed, Peace told the Sentinel. " They

gave out turkeys at Thanksgiving. "

 

http://eatthestate.org/04-22/NaturePolitics.htm

 

Nature & Politics by Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn

 

Down the Drain

 

When New Yorkers flush their toilets, the waste ends up more than

2,000 miles away in Hudspeth County, Texas. It's carried there by

train and then sprayed on 78,000 acres of desert only a few miles from

the small town of Sierra Blanca.

 

Remember Sierra Blanca? It's the largely Hispanic town that in 1999

fended off plans to locate on its doorstep a dump for radioactive

waste from the Northeast. Now it finds itself as the neighbor of the

largest sewage sludge dump in the nation. On most days the air is

putrid, and now people are beginning to come down with strange

illnesses. And in George Bash's Texas there's little legal recourse to

stop the flow of sludge.

 

How New York City's sludge--toxic, foul-smelling and loaded with live

pathogens--got to Sierra Blanca tells us a lot about the way poor,

minority-dominated communities in America become dumping grounds for

the powerful. And it also speaks volumes about the shameless political

panderings of George W. Bush.

 

.... The town of Sierra Blanca is so destitute it can't even afford to

build its own sewer system.

 

http://www.riles.org/paper2.htm

 

The Sludge Scam: Should Sewage Sludge Fertilize Your Vegetables

 

Laura Orlando

 

Originally published in Dollars and Sense magazine, May/June 1997.

 

....Sewers and sewage treatment plants are big business. They are

expensive to build and to maintain. No one wants to add to the price

tag the landfilling of sludge, because it is the American taxpayer

that will have to pay the piper. So call it a fertilizer and spread it

on land. It's the cheapest option and, at first glance, the most

environmentally benign and media savvy solution to an enormous problem

 

.... Selling the idea of sludge as a " safe fertilizer " started in

earnest after the 1988 ban on dumping sewage sludge into the ocean.

The first order of business was a name change: sludge had to go, so

the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an industry sponsored

organization formerly known as the Federation of Sewage Works

Associations, went into action.

 

In 1991, the Name Change Task Force of WEF settled on " biosolids, "

defined as the nutrient-rich organic byproduct of the nation's

wastewater treatment process. Change the name and you redraw the

battle lines. It's not about sludge disposal anymore, it's about

" organic " fertilizers, " biosolids recycling, " and " composting. "

Consumers, gardeners, and farmers are confused, and rightly so.

 

The Water Environment Federation, whose membership is almost entirely

drawn from those who have a stake in the sludge production business --

treatment plant mangers and operators, state and federal employees,

waste management corporations, engineering firms, construction

companies, and equipment manufacturers and suppliers -- became the

chief non-governmental spokesman for " biosolids. " It wrapped itself in

the language of environmentalism and locked arms with the EPA.

 

.... Selling the idea of sludge as a " safe fertilizer " started in

earnest after the 1988 ban on dumping sewage sludge into the ocean.

The first order of business was a name change: sludge had to go, so

the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an industry sponsored

organization formerly known as the Federation of Sewage Works

Associations, went into action.

 

In 1991, the Name Change Task Force of WEF settled on " biosolids, "

defined as the nutrient-rich organic byproduct of the nation's

wastewater treatment process. Change the name and you redraw the

battle lines. It's not about sludge disposal anymore, it's about

" organic " fertilizers, " biosolids recycling, " and " composting. "

Consumers, gardeners, and farmers are confused, and rightly so.

 

The Water Environment Federation, whose membership is almost entirely

drawn from those who have a stake in the sludge production business --

treatment plant mangers and operators, state and federal employees,

waste management corporations, engineering firms, construction

companies, and equipment manufacturers and suppliers -- became the

chief non-governmental spokesman for " biosolids. " It wrapped itself in

the language of environmentalism and locked arms with the EPA.

 

.... A national grassroots effort, spearheaded by the New York-based

National Sludge Alliance, to stop the land application of sludge has

grown out of several horror stories from people from around the

country. In Rutland Vermont, 24 months after spreading sludge on his

99 acre farm, dairyman Robert Ruane's cow's started getting arthritis

and milk production dropped from 18,000 pound per year to 14,000

pounds per year. Over a two year period, 66 cows died. " They told me

how much money it was going to save me on fertilizer. " The

municipality furnished him with two tractors, a manure spreader and a

set of transport harrows. Tissue and blood samples from the dead cows

pointed to severe liver damage. But the EPA labels all such evidence

circumstantial.

 

.... Millions of dollars are transferred from municipalities to sludge

haulers like Wheelabrator, BFI, and Merco Joint Ventures. It's big

business run by corporations who are no strangers to bullying. When

Hugh Kaufman -- a champion of environmental justice and an engineer in

the EPA's Hazardous Waste Division -- called the transfer of sludge

from New York City to the Texas town of Sierra Blanca an " illegal haul

and dump operation masquerading as an environmentally beneficial

project " on Michael Moore's " TV Nation, " he was sued for libel by

Merco, the sludge hauler in charge of the operation. Kaufman and his

four co-defendants, including TriStar Television, lost the first round

in court but are appealing the verdict. Kaufman and TriStar were

ordered to pay Merco $500,000 and $4.5 million respectively in

punitive damages. Each were fined one dollar in compensatory (actual)

damages. Kaufman argues that this was a slapsuit aimed at silencing

him and others like him. According to Kaufman, no proof was offered by

Merco that the information presented on the television program was

false. Michael Moore said it was about " shutting up the people of

Sierra Blanca " and their call to end the sludge dumping.

 

If sludge is not spread on land or sold as fertilizer under brand

names like Milorganite, Nu-Earth, Nitrohumus, and Baystate Organic,

what should be done with it? The first step is to limit its

production. Take industry off the public sewer systems and do not

sewer additional communities. Safe, culturally acceptable, and

economical alternatives to conventional sewers exist. Use them. ...

 

http://www.mysa.com/mysanantonio/extras/sierrablanca/sierra4.shtml

 

Sierra Blancans see selection as boon or bribe

 

By Russell Gold Express-News Staff Writer

 

.... In 1992, New York City began sending its sludge -- the peatlike

remains of treated sewage -- to a ranch a few miles north of town

where Merco Joint Venture spreads it across 128,000 acres.

 

The six-year contract with Merco expires this year, but there are

plans for Sierra Blanca to continue receiving New York City waste. ...

 

....Many residents of the town, which has no industry and few

employers, fear that if they speak out against the proposed

radioactive dump they will lose their jobs. ...

 

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1995Q3/bypass.html

 

Bypassing Barriers With " Active " and " Passive " Public Relations by

John C. Stauber and Sheldon Rampton

 

The EPA's PR strategy for sludge was first outlined in a 40-page

report published in 1981 with a classic bureaucratic title:

" Institutional Constraints and Public Acceptance Barriers to

Utilization of Municipal Wastewater and Sludge for Land Reclamation

and Biomass Production. " It warns that sludge farming projects may be

blocked by small local groups who " feel their interests threatened. "

 

.... Sarber is especially proud of her PR work in 1991--1992 for

Enviro-Gro Technologies, a sludge hauler now operating under the name

Wheelebrator. Sarber quietly approached business leaders and

politicians in the rural town of Holly, Colorado (population 1,400),

which Enviro-Gro had targeted as a dumping-site for New York City

sludge. When the proper groundwork had been laid, the pro-sludge

campaign struck like a blitzkrieg, quickly deploying " third-party "

scientific advocates to assure local citizens of the safety of sludge.

 

Sarber bragged about stealing the media spotlight at a public meeting

organized by opponents of sludge farming: " [Pro-sludge] advocates were

placed directly on stage and demanded participation in the forum,

which was granted. In addition, local advocates promoted the project

through general grandstanding activities in the audience. . . . By

targeting the press during the event, the spin of the story changed

from an opposition meeting to one which showed that several farmers

wanted to find out how they could get more biosolids. Rather than

allowing the opposition to have a press 'success' in blasting the

project, the media stories show support, with only a few dissenters.

When Governor Romer of Colorado came out to throw a shovel full of New

York City biosolids on a field, it was apparent that the initial

siting of the project had been successful. "

 

Flush With Victory Kelly Sarber has fought on the front lines of

several other sludge campaigns involving sludge disposal for New York

City. In addition to Enviro-Gro, her employers have included the New

York Organic Fertilizer Company and Merco Joint Venture, the major

players in the Big Apple's billion-dollar sludge disposal game. The

city has signed contracts totalling $634 million with Merco and New

York Organic, in exchange for which the two companies have committed

to haul away over a thousand tons per day of city sewage sludge.

 

New York has an especially messy history of waste disposal problems.

In addition to sewage, the city used to dump its garbage into the

ocean, and became notorious for instances of garbage washing ashore on

nearby beaches. New York's practice of dumping sludge into the ocean

first came under fire from the EPA in 1981, prompting the city to file

a lawsuit arguing that ocean dumping was environmentally preferable to

land-based alternatives. In the 1980s, however, the EPA found that New

York's ocean dumping sites had suffered heavy degradation, including

bacterial contamination of shellfish, elevated levels of toxic metals,

and accumulations of metals and toxic chemicals in fish.In 1988,

Congress passed the Ocean Dumping Reform Act, requiring a complete end

to ocean dumping by June 1991 and imposing fines of up to $500,000 per

day if New York failed to comply.

 

As the city scrambled to meet the deadline, Merco and New York Organic

used both " aggressive " and " passive " PR to persuade small towns in

other states to take their sludge. Their efforts met with mixed

success. Alabama residents shut off all attempts to export New York

sludge to their pastures, and Merco's efforts in Oklahoma failed in

four towns. In Thomas, Oklahoma (population 1,244), news of Merco's

interest triggered what town mayor Bill Haney described as a " civil

war. " Within two weeks after the plan went public, state officials had

received over 200 angry letters from Thomas residents, prompting the

Oklahoma legislature to unanimously pass a moratorium prohibiting land

application of sludge that contains " significantly higher " levels of

heavy metal than sludge produced in the state.

 

Friends in Low Places In her work as an " environmental media

consultant, " Sarber faced questions that went beyond issues of

nitrogen content and pH balance. She was called upon repeatedly to

deny allegations that her employers were engaged in environmental

violations, influence peddling and organized crime.

 

Merco came under criticism, for example, when it was discovered that

one of its partners, Standard Marine Services, belonged to the Frank

family barge empire, a group of companies labeled by the state as New

York Harbor's worst polluter. Standard Marine owed over $1 million in

taxes and judgments and was forced to drop out of Merco after it was

unable to get financial bonding.

 

In 1992, Newsday reported that New York deputy mayor Norman Steisel,

whose duties included oversight of the city's sludge program, was a

partner in New York Organic Fertilizer Co., and noted that the brother

of New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato was a partner in the law firm that

negotiated New York Organic's contract with the city. A probe was

launched to investigate possible influence-peddling, and company

spokesperson Sarber promised that " we will cooperate fully. "

 

A few months later, Alphonse D'Arco, a former boss for the Luchese

crime family, testified during a June 1992 murder trial that two Merco

partners--the John P. Picone and Peter Scalamandre & Sons construction

firms--had paid $90,000 a year in payoffs to the Luchese family. In

separate but corroborating testimony, D'Arco and Gambino family

turncoat Salvatore ( " The Bull " ) Gravano also described Picone's

involvement in a sweetheart deal involving bid-rigging and

manipulation of New York labor unions to benefit the Gambino,

Genovese, Luchese, Colombo and Bonanno crime families. Picone and

Scalamandre were unavailable for comment, but Sarber was brought out

to state that her employers " have had no business or personal

relationships with any of these people. "

 

In 1994, Newsday reported that Merco was using the Cross Harbor

Railroad to ship its sludge, even though Salvatore Franco, a major

Cross Harbor investor, had been banned for life from the waste

industry in New Jersey. In response to a reporter's inquiry,

spokesperson Kelly Sarber said Merco had no idea that Franco was

involved with Cross Harbor.

 

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Slick On December 10, 1991, Newsday

reported that " stealth is New York City's new weapon in its war on

sludge. The city has decided to make a secret of where it plans to

ship tons of the sewage gunk beginning next month. It hopes to secure

permits for sludge disposal in some towns before the local gadflys can

get all riled up about it. Thus, the names of towns where New York

Organic Fertilizer . . . has applied for sludge permits are strictly

hush-hush. . . . The city . . . wants to avoid a political circus such

as the one in Oklahoma, where three towns rejected another New York

plan for sludge because they feared it could carry everything from

AIDS to organized crime with it. "

 

Bowie, Arizona (population 400), was one of the communities targeted

with " passive public relations " in 1992, when Bowie resident Ronald K.

Bryce received state approval to apply 83 million pounds per year of

New York sludge on his cotton fields. The rest of the community found

out about the plan when someone overheard a conversation in a

restaurant in the summer of 1993, shortly before the first deliveries

of sludge were scheduled to begin. Bryce had received his permits

without public hearings or even public notice. Arizona Daily Star

reporter Keith Bagwell sought an explanation from Melanie Barton, a

solid waste official with the Arizona Department of Environmental

Quality. " Our approval was based on guidelines, which are like rules

but without the public comment, " Barton said.

 

Further inquiry by Bagwell discovered that over 100 million pounds of

sludge from Arizona's own Pima County sewers had also been spread on

area farms since 1983. EPA regulations had enforced limits for only

one metal and one chemical in the sludge, even though Pima County

sewage treatment superintendent Donald Armstrong admitted that the

county sewer system received wastes from about 1,500 industries,

roughly half of which use toxic chemicals. Tests showed that the Pima

County sludge contained over 80 " priority pollutants, " including

dioxin, phenol and toluene, along with high levels of cadmium, lead

and other toxic heavy metals.

 

Actually, the Arizona sludge was relatively clean compared to the

stuff being shipped in from New York. " Sludge from San Diego, Los

Angeles or New York you have to look at carefully--it's different in

highly industrialized areas, " said Ian Pepper, a soil and water

science professor involved in studying Pima County's sludge-use program.

 

His assessment was confirmed by Ian Michaels, a spokesman for the New

York City Department of Environmental Protection, who estimated that

the city had 2,000 unregulated companies discharging industrial waste

into the sewers, but admitted that his department had " no way of

knowing how many . . . there are. "

 

Despite this information, Ronald Bryce began spreading New York sludge

on his farm in Bowie on April 5, 1994. Town residents complained that

the state allowed him to spread millions of pounds of sludge before

receiving any test results on the incoming material. Tests on the

April shipment were finally completed in July, showing that the New

York sludge contained petroleum hydrocarbons at 14 to 22 times the

level at which state regulations require a cleanup from oil and

gasoline spills. The tests also showed fecal coliform bacteria at 33.5

times the limit allowed under federal law.

 

" That sounds more like untreated sludge, " said Laura Fondahl, an

engineer at the EPA's San Francisco office. " It couldn't be

land-applied--it would have to go to a municipal landfill, a dedicated

sludge-only landfill, or to a treatment plant. Those are binding

rules. " Nevertheless, Bryce was allowed to resume spreading on his

farmland in August 1994.

 

When Push Comes to Sludge

 

After Merco's rejection in Oklahoma, it turned to the Mexican border

town of Sierra Blanca (population 500), one of the poorest towns in

one of the poorest counties in Texas. Once again, citizens quickly

mobilized to protest Merco's plans to spread sludge on desert grazing

land--nine miles from a planned repository for nuclear waste from

power plants in Maine and Vermont.

 

The town's sludge war hit the national airwaves in 1994 when it was

featured on TV Nation, a satiric show hosted by investigative

filmmaker Michael Moore. TV Nation accompanied a trainload of New York

sludge cake from New York to Sierra Blanca, and aired bitter

complaints from local residents interviewed on the dusty streets of

Sierra Blanca. " You can smell it all over, and I don't see why New

York has any right to dump their shit on us, " one woman said angrily.

Another added, " We've gotten a lot of allergies. People who have never

had allergies in their lives have come up with a bunch of stuff like

that. "

 

The program also interviewed Hugh Kaufman in his Washington office.

" This hazardous material is not allowed to be disposed of or used for

beneficial use in the state of New York, and it's not allowed to be

disposed of or used for beneficial use in Texas either, " Kaufman said.

" What you have is an illegal 'haul and dump' operation masquerading as

an environmentally beneficial project, and it's only a masquerade. . .

.. The people of Texas are being poisoned. "

 

Soon after the show aired, Merco filed a lawsuit seeking $33 million

in damages from Kaufman and TV Nation's producer, Sony Entertainment

Pictures, Inc., accusing them of " defamatory and disparaging

statements . . . made with actual malice and a reckless disregard for

the truth. " The lawsuit complained that Merco had spent about $600,000

in direct public relations efforts to establish good will in Texas,

half of which had been lost as a result of the program. Kaufman has

counter-sued for $3 million.

 

In the past, Kaufman has blown the whistle on toxic contaminations of

Love Canal and Times Beach, Missouri. Under the Reagan administration,

he took on EPA Administrator Anne Burford, who was forced to resign

after being found in contempt of Congress for not turning over

documents. Burford's assistant administrator, Rita Lavelle, served

four months in jail for lying to Congress.

 

" This issue is much bigger, " Kaufman said, " because this is

obstructing a criminal investigation of companies affiliated with

organized crime involved in the illegal disposal of waste with an

illegal contract at great taxpayer expense. The Burford-Lavelle thing

was just using superfund for political shenanigans--determining which

site would be cleaned up or not cleaned up based on politics. " In

Sierra Blanca, he said, " We're talking about government basically

taking a dive for organized crime during an open criminal investigation. "

 

.... As the city scrambled to meet the deadline, Merco and New York

Organic used both " aggressive " and " passive " PR to persuade small

towns in other states to take their sludge. Their efforts met with

mixed success. Alabama residents shut off all attempts to export New

York sludge to their pastures, and Merco's efforts in Oklahoma failed

in four towns. In Thomas, Oklahoma (population 1,244), news of Merco's

interest triggered what town mayor Bill Haney described as a " civil

war. " Within two weeks after the plan went public, state officials had

received over 200 angry letters from Thomas residents, prompting the

Oklahoma legislature to unanimously pass a moratorium prohibiting land

application of sludge that contains " significantly higher " levels of

heavy metal than sludge produced in the state.

 

Friends in Low Places In her work as an " environmental media

consultant, " Sarber faced questions that went beyond issues of

nitrogen content and pH balance. She was called upon repeatedly to

deny allegations that her employers were engaged in environmental

violations, influence peddling and organized crime.

 

Merco came under criticism, for example, when it was discovered that

one of its partners, Standard Marine Services, belonged to the Frank

family barge empire, a group of companies labeled by the state as New

York Harbor's worst polluter. Standard Marine owed over $1 million in

taxes and judgments and was forced to drop out of Merco after it was

unable to get financial bonding.

 

In 1992, Newsday reported that New York deputy mayor Norman Steisel,

whose duties included oversight of the city's sludge program, was a

partner in New York Organic Fertilizer Co., and noted that the brother

of New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato was a partner in the law firm that

negotiated New York Organic's contract with the city. A probe was

launched to investigate possible influence-peddling, and company

spokesperson Sarber promised that " we will cooperate fully. "

 

A few months later, Alphonse D'Arco, a former boss for the Luchese

crime family, testified during a June 1992 murder trial that two Merco

partners--the John P. Picone and Peter Scalamandre & Sons construction

firms--had paid $90,000 a year in payoffs to the Luchese family. In

separate but corroborating testimony, D'Arco and Gambino family

turncoat Salvatore ( " The Bull " ) Gravano also described Picone's

involvement in a sweetheart deal involving bid-rigging and

manipulation of New York labor unions to benefit the Gambino,

Genovese, Luchese, Colombo and Bonanno crime families. Picone and

Scalamandre were unavailable for comment, but Sarber was brought out

to state that her employers " have had no business or personal

relationships with any of these people. "

 

In 1994, Newsday reported that Merco was using the Cross Harbor

Railroad to ship its sludge, even though Salvatore Franco, a major

Cross Harbor investor, had been banned for life from the waste

industry in New Jersey. In response to a reporter's inquiry,

spokesperson Kelly Sarber said Merco had no idea that Franco was

involved with Cross Harbor.

 

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Slick On December 10, 1991, Newsday

reported that " stealth is New York City's new weapon in its war on

sludge. The city has decided to make a secret of where it plans to

ship tons of the sewage gunk beginning next month. It hopes to secure

permits for sludge disposal in some towns before the local gadflys can

get all riled up about it. Thus, the names of towns where New York

Organic Fertilizer . . . has applied for sludge permits are strictly

hush-hush. . . . The city . . . wants to avoid a political circus such

as the one in Oklahoma, where three towns rejected another New York

plan for sludge because they feared it could carry everything from

AIDS to organized crime with it. "

 

.... Despite this information, Ronald Bryce began spreading New York

sludge on his farm in Bowie on April 5, 1994. Town residents

complained that the state allowed him to spread millions of pounds of

sludge before receiving any test results on the incoming material.

Tests on the April shipment were finally completed in July, showing

that the New York sludge contained petroleum hydrocarbons at 14 to 22

times the level at which state regulations require a cleanup from oil

and gasoline spills. The tests also showed fecal coliform bacteria at

33.5 times the limit allowed under federal law.

 

" That sounds more like untreated sludge, " said Laura Fondahl, an

engineer at the EPA's San Francisco office. " It couldn't be

land-applied--it would have to go to a municipal landfill, a dedicated

sludge-only landfill, or to a treatment plant. Those are binding

rules. " Nevertheless, Bryce was allowed to resume spreading on his

farmland in August 1994. ...

 

http://www.emagazine.com/may-june_1996/0596curr_sludge.html

 

The Sludging of America Sewage Waste Spread on Farms and Landfills is

Causing Chronic Health Problems

 

.... Dr. Donald Lisk of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and

Life Sciences wrote in a 1993 report entitled The Issue of Sewage

Sludge Application to Land that " municipal sewage sludges are highly

variable in their composition and only a small percentage of the

toxicants are known. " Microbiologist Dr. John Duda, laboratory

technical director at Brownsville General Hospital in Pennsylvania,

also cautions that " infectious agents pass through patients' stools

and wind up in the sludge. " He notes that a few years ago there was an

outbreak of Salmonella Poona infections due to contaminated

cantaloupes fertilized with municipal sewage sludge.

 

.... A growing number of institutions and individuals are becoming

aware of these risks. Major food packers like DelMonte and Heinz have

already banned " sludged " produce to protect their consumers. Farm

Credit Bureaus are refusing to finance " sludged " farms due to the

financial risks from contaminated soils. Insurance companies have

inserted environmental liability exclusions in their policies to

protect themselves against substantial claims.

 

This fear was confirmed when William Parker, an American farmer in the

Bahamas, was awarded $6.9 million in damages when the sewage sludge

fertilizer containing bacteria that survived processing at Dade

County's Water and Sewer Authority destroyed his papaya crop.

 

Sierra Blanca, Texas residents are being assisted by Hugh B. Kaufman,

an EPA official, after reports of severe nausea and burning eyes from

an operation there that imports sludge from New York City. An

investigation into the permitting process which approved the operation

is underway and major lawsuits are pending. ...

 

http://pitch.com/issues/2000-11-16/feature.html/page1.html

 

Field of Bad Dreams Jim Bynum declares a sludge match against the

city. BY JOE MILLER

 

Scooting along back roads in north Kansas City, Jim Bynum's compact

car is a cocoon of clutter. Strewn around the back seat is the

detritus of a busy life: wax cups from fast food restaurants, empty

packs of cigarettes, candy wrappers. Among the debris are photocopies

of newspaper articles detailing an environmental issue of growing

national concern: the use of sewer sludge as fertilizer. Some of the

articles are quite alarming. They tell tales of average, healthy

Americans unwittingly wandering onto fields that have been fertilized

with sludge only to fall mysteriously ill days later and die.

 

.... Much of his speculation is based on a handful of strange illnesses

that have occurred near sludge-application sites in other parts of the

country. One such case is that of young Tony Behun of Osceola Mills,

Pennsylvania. In 1994, the 11-year-old boy rode his dirt bike across

hills that had been covered with sludge. Two days later, he developed

a sore throat and severe headache. By day six, he was in the hospital

with a fever so high that doctors called in a helicopter to fly him to

Pittsburgh, 110 miles away. He died early the next morning.

 

Doctors blamed his death on a blood infection, the bacteria

staphylococcus aureus. But doctors couldn't determine how he had come

down with the infection.

 

The boy quickly became the poster child of anti-sludge activists. His

and a handful of other similarly sudden and mysterious illnesses

people contracted shortly after they'd come in contact with sludge

have been hailed by some activists as proof that sludge is deadly.

 

David Lewis, an EPA microbiologist, suspects the worst in Behun's

case. He told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that caustic chemicals

contained in the sludge, such as lime and ammonia, opened lesions

allowing the deadly bacteria to enter Behun's system through his skin.

" I'm hearing from people all across the country who are getting sick

just like Tony did, " he said. " The case of Tony Behun is as clear a

connection as you'll see. "

 

An award-winning EPA scientist, Lewis came out in 1996 as a

whistle-blower against his employer's sludge program by writing a

critical article in the international science journal Nature.

 

" They call it biosolids, but all it is is human waste after they've

filtered out all the tampon applicators, " he says. " You take what's

flushed down the toilet at the hospital, what's flushed out of a

metal-plating plant, mix it, and sell it as fertilizer. That's a bad

idea. "

 

In the years since the article was published, Lewis' employer has

retaliated. His superiors at the EPA immediately accused him of ethics

violations; he turned around and filed a complaint with the U.S.

Department of Labor, which enforces laws that prohibit punishment of

government whistle-blowers. The EPA settled by paying Lewis $115,000

and writing a formal letter of apology. When the agency denied his

promotion, he filed another complaint, for which he was awarded

$25,000 to cover legal fees. The EPA then transferred him to a

research facility at the University of Georgia, but the agency's

general counsel prohibited the lab he would work in from doing any

research on sludge. And, again, he was denied his promotion -- which,

again, he is contesting with the DOL. The EPA also punished Lewis'

immediate supervisor, Rosemarie Russo, for allowing him to talk to the

media. On October 2, the DOL ruled in her favor, calling the EPA's

actions against her " retaliatory in nature. "

 

Lewis' assertions gained even more clout in August when the National

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report warning of

the dangers to workers who are exposed to biosolids. The agencies

found numerous cases in which workers suffered from gastrointestinal

illnesses, and they recommended safeguards that are more stringent

than the ones the EPA employs to protect the general public.

 

The report called for more intensive treatment of sludge. EPA rules

divided the stuff into two categories: Class B and Class A. The former

has been deemed safe for controlled land application, and it's what

Kansas City injects into the soil around Bynum's land. It contains,

according to the EPA's own regulations, controlled levels of dozens of

disease-bearing pathogens including salmonella, Vibrio cholerae, and

the hepatitis A virus.

 

.... Jim Bynum, however, is certain that his land has been

contaminated. As proof, he offers the results of soil tests he had

done in 1998. First he asked officials at the EPA and the Missouri

Department of Natural Resources to conduct the tests, but they

wouldn't. He called every lab in Kansas City, but none would do the

tests for him. " They all said it was a conflict of interest, " Bynum

recalls. " They do work for the city and the EPA. " Finally, he got the

nod from Qwal Laboratories in Pittsburg, Kansas. He sent four samples.

Two of them yielded alarming results. They seemed to reveal that the

dirt contained extremely high levels of salmonella and E. coli: more

than 800,000 colony-forming units of bacteria per 100 grams of soil.

 

Bynum has made city, state, and federal officials aware of his test

results. But these regulators hold little stock in Bynum's tests

because they are unable to verify how his samples were collected.

Also, officials say, the tests weren't conducted according to their

own strict guidelines. Bynum says that for each sample, he scooped up

about an inch of topsoil and dumped it into a Ziploc bag, numbered

each one, took two photographs to document the location, then drove

the samples to the laboratory.

 

.... If Bynum's test results are accurate, they would seem to be a

stunning anomaly. The city's own test results, which it reports

annually to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the EPA,

have for the past two years revealed that the sludge itself -- prior

to being applied to soil -- contains 20,000 times fewer pathogens than

Bynum's samples did.

 

How does the city gets these counts so low? " You basically cook it, "

Williamson says. After the city runs its raw sewage through the

primary and secondary treatment processes, it reduces the amount of

its remaining sludge by burning some of it and hauling the ash to a

landfill. Workers pump what's left into large tanks where the

temperature is maintained at 95 degrees for 30 days; this effectively

kills almost all of the pathogens. ...

 

....EPA microbiologist Lewis, who specializes in studying pathogens, is

not surprised by the disparity in Bynum's and the city's test results.

He says sludge is not evenly mixed. " You can take a sample at any time

and get a number of 40 (bacteria per 100 grams of soil), " he explains.

" Then you can take another sample and get a reading of 400 or 400,000. "

 

In fact, Lewis cited Bynum's test results in an article he wrote for

the Lexington Institute in early 1999. He used it as possible evidence

that disease-bearing pathogens can survive and proliferate in soil

long after sludge is applied. " I remember (Bynum) sending me counts on

salmonella and E. coli, " Lewis tells Pitch Weekly. " I called the lab

to confirm the results. " Yet he agrees with Dunn in that if the tests

were to be held up as solid proof, the soil would have to be resampled

and retested and held up to peer review.

 

Regardless, Lewis says, the debate over the test results illustrates a

larger issue of concern about the federal sludge mandate. " It points

out the real weakness of 503, " he explains, referring to the federal

code name of the sludge program. " The real weakness is in the area of

pathogen control. The problem with pathogens is, under current

regulations, a (treatment) plant can test for either E. coli or

salmonella, but not both. So they can have a high reading in one and

not the other. On top of that, the regulations try to conclude that by

spreading sludge they're not spreading diseases, based on one

bacteria. But they're not spreading one bacteria. They're spreading

many. It doesn't make sense biologically. " ...

 

http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/sludge.html

 

THE SLUDGE HITS THE FAN (Chapter 8 of the book Toxic Sludge is Good

for You! -- Lies Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry by John

Stauber and Sheldon Rampton of the Center for Media and Democracy,

3318 Gregory Street, Madison, WI 53711, 608-233-3346,

editor. The book was published by Common Courage Press,

Box 702, Monroe, Maine 04951; 207-525-0900) Center

 

.... Our investigation into the PR campaign for " beneficial use " of

sewage sludge revealed a murky tangle of corporate and government

bureaucracies, conflicts of interest, and a coverup of massive hazards

to the environment and human health. The trail began with the Water

Environment Federation -- formerly known as the " Federation of Sewage

Works Associations " -- and led finally to Hugh Kaufman, the legendary

whistleblower at the hazardous site control division of the

Environmental Protection Agency.

 

In the 1980s, Kaufman refused to remain silent about the collaboration

between EPA officials and leaders of the industries they were supposed

to regulate. His courageous testimony exposed the agency's failure to

deal with mounting chemical wastes and brought down Anne Burford,

President Reagan's EPA administrator. " His active protest resulted in

a secret campaign to track his whereabouts and find evidence to fire

him, " report Myron Peretz Glazer and Penina Migdal Glazer in their

1989 book, The Whistle Blowers. " The EPA's inspector general became

implicated in this scheme. Silencing Kaufman became official policy

even if it meant invading his privacy in the futile hope of uncovering

some personal indiscretion. . . . Kaufman gained national prominence

and became a symbol of an employee who refused to be cowed by an

oppressive bureaucracy. " [2]

 

Today, Kaufman is attempting to raise a similar alarm about the

so-called " beneficial use " of sewage sludge, a boondoggle he refers to

as " sludge-gate . . . the mother lode of toxic waste. " [3]

 

.... " Today, " observe environmental writers Pat Costner and Joe

Thornton, " waterless treatment systems -- on-site composting and

drying toilets that process human wastes directly into a safe, useful

soil additive -- are available. These dry systems are more economical

than water-flushed toilets and their attendant collection and

treatment systems. However, water-flushed toilets are so entrenched in

the cultural infrastructure that the transition to alternative waste

systems has been blocked. Instead, billions of dollars are spent on

perfecting the mistake of waterborne waste systems: wastes are first

diluted in water and then, at great expense, partially removed. The

products of this treatment are sludge -- which requires even further

treatment before disposal -- and treated effluent, which carries the

remaining pollutants into receiving waters. " [5]

 

.... A Rose By Any Other Name

 

To educate the public at large about the benefits of sludge, the EPA

turned to Nancy Blatt's employer, known today as the " Water

Environment Federation. " Although its name evokes images of cascading

mountain streams, the WEF is actually the sewage industry's main

trade, lobby and public relations organization, with over 41,000

members and a multi-million-dollar budget that supports a 100- member

staff. Founded in 1928 as the " Federation of Sewage Works

Associations, " the organization in 1950 recognized the growing

significance of industrial waste in sludge by changing its name to the

" Federation of Sewage and Industrial Wastes Associations. " In 1960, it

changed its name again to the cleaner-sounding " Water Pollution

Control Federation. " [17]

 

In 1977, Federation director Robert Canham criticized the EPA's

enthusiasm for land application of sludge, which he feared could

introduce viruses into the food chain. " The results can be

disastrous, " he warned. [18] By the 1990s, however, Federation members

were running out of other places to put the stuff. The Federation

became an eager supporter of land farming, and even organized a

contest among its members to coin a nicer-sounding name for sludge.

 

The proposal to create a " Name Change Task Force " originated with

Peter Machno, manager of Seattle's sludge program, after protesters

mobilized against his plan to spread sludge on local tree farms. " If I

knocked on your door and said I've got this beneficial product called

sludge, what are you going to say? " he asked. At Machno's suggestion,

the Federation newsletter published a request for alternative names.

Members sent in over 250 suggestions, including " all growth, "

" purenutri, " " biolife, " " bioslurp, " " black gold, " " geoslime, "

" sca-doo, " " the end product, " " humanure, " " hu-doo, " " organic

residuals, " " bioresidue, " " urban biomass, " " powergro, " " organite, "

" recyclite, " " nutri-cake " and " ROSE, " short for " recycling of solids

environmentally. " [19] In June of 1991, the Name Change Task Force

finally settled on " biosolids, " which it defined as the

" nutrient-rich, organic byproduct of the nation's wastewater treatment

process. " [20]

 

The new name attracted sarcastic comment from the Doublespeak

Quarterly Review, edited by Rutgers University professor William Lutz.

" Does it still stink? " Lutz asked. He predicted that the new name

" probably won't move into general usage. It's obviously coming from an

engineering mentality. It does have one great virtue, though. You

think of `biosolids' and your mind goes blank. " [21] ...

 

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=Sierra+Blanca+Texas+New+York+City+sewer+sludge\

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