NEW! The Local Nose Knows Best What to do with Sewage Sludge: Read the posting here.

NEW! Citizens for Sludge-Free Land post comment on Docket ID No.EPA-HQ-ORD 2008-0547. Re: Problem Formulation for Human Health Risk Assessment of Pathogens in Land-Applied Sludges. [Document 100] [Document 101]

NEW! Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: Sludge Guide [Document 99]

NEW! CFSL asks Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to Clean Up EPA's Office of Water and Phase out the Land Application of Sludge.
It is crucial that Congress re-establishes honesty and integrity within the EPA Office of Water. It is crucial that your committee investigates the root problem: EPA's role in deliberately and knowingly covering up sludge incidents, its role in manipulating test results and data, its role in the misuse of government funds, and its role in quashing scientific dissent by discrediting even its own top research scientists. Meanwhile, Citizens for Sludge-Free Land appeals to your committee to introduce legislation that phases out the risky practice of spreading this unpredictable and highly complex contaminated waste on the nations' fields, farms, and forests.
Read the entire document here

NEW! The Sierra Club opposes the land application of sewage sludge and urges EPA and the industry to investigate and support safer, non-polluting alternatives for sludge use and disposal. Sierra Club Policy

NEW! Published Articles since 1997

Scientists using federal grants spread sludge on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients. Read the story here

Sewage-Based Fertilizer Safety Doubted US District Court Judge orders Dept. of Agriculture to compensate farmer whose land was poisoned by sludge, killing hundreds of cattle and contaminating milk. Read the story here.

Health Survey of Residents Living Near Farm Fields Permitted to Receive Biosolids.(2007) [Document 98] Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, Vol.62. No.1. /The findings suggest an increased risk for certain respiratory, gastrointestinal, and other diseases among residents living near farm fields on which the use of biosolids was permitted.

/Cf. David L.Lewis et al. Interactions of Pathogens and Irritant Chemicals in Land-Applied Sludges (Biosolids) (2002) BMC Public Health. http://www.biomedcentral.com

Qui Tam Complaint [Document 94]
To protect their careers, EPA defendants, Walker and Brobst, worked with the University of Georgia "to mask and cover up any evidence linking Augusta cattle deaths to sewage sludge." They violated numerous provisions of the Clean Water Act; they "knowingly and intentionally" published false and fabricated data to prove that the sludge applied to the two dairy farms did not contain hazardous wastes; they helped defend Augusta against lawsuits from the injured farmers; and they discredited and neutralized one of their own scientists, Dr. David Lewis, in order to stop him from "uncovering the falsity of the Gaskin paper" and their related illegal and unethical activities.

The Sludge Diet
The highly acclaimed 52-minute documentary that includes scientists, victims, activists, farmers, and government officials,
from the US, Canada, France, and Switzerland, discussing the health and environmental problems linked to using sludges as "fertilizer."
To order The Sludge Diet, contact the Canadian distributor, Paul Maltais, at www.cinefete.ca

NH Sludge Company gets Toxics Action's Dirty Dozen Award [Document 95]

The Dirty Work of Promoting "Recycling" of America's Sewage Sludge
IJOEH_1104_Snyder.pdf
Serious illnesses, including deaths, and adverse environmental impacts have been linked to land application of treated municipal sewage sludge. EPA and the wastewater treatment industry have worked with Congress to fund wastewater trade associations to promote land application, supporting industry-friendly scientists and discouraging independent research, to prevent local governments from restricting land application and to thwart litigation against municipalities and the industry. Related Documents 1-60

Additional Documents 61-99

For information about sludge victims visit www.sludgevictims.com