NEW! Letter to Farmers from Biosolids-Free Nova Scotia: [Document 109]
We have concluded that, unless sewage waste is completely free of industrial,commercial and hospital contaminants or pathogens, using the product as a soil additive or fertilizer on agricultural soils is too risky an endeavor to ensure public health and safety-even if "treated."

NEW! The Gatekeepers: A Summary of Court Records in Civil Actions Filed by David L.Lewis, Ph.D., R.A. McElmurray,III and G. William Boyce. Land Application of Sewage Sludge (Biosolids): 1997-2010: [Document 108]

NEW! EPA Fired Oil-Degradation Expert Concerned about Deepwater Oil Rigs: [Document 107]
In 1998 the US Environmental Protection Agency detailed one of its top scientists, David Lewis, to the University of Georgia, in part, to investigate the possibility of an offshore drilling rig mishap in the Gulf of Mexico and how to deal with it. Robert Perciasepe, formerly head of EPA's Office of Water, now EPA Deputy Administrator, was involved in stopping Lewis' research.

NEW! Virginia Farmers Deceived About Sewage Sludge Safety: [Document 106]
CFSL's March 27 letter to the VA Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and to EPA Region 3, requests that no more sludge permits be issued in Campbell County. VA code specifies that such permits, to be valid, can only be granted with the informed consent of the landowner. However,information provided by DEQ,the VA Cooperative Extension Service,and Nutri-Blend Inc about the serious risks associated with land applying sewage sludges is out-dated, inaccurate, incomplete, and deceptive.

Case For Caution Revisited: Health and Environmental Impacts of Application of Sewage Sludges to Agricultural Land: [Document 105]

Courts Finally Recognize Spreading Sewage Sludge on Farmland is A Very Bad Idea: [Document 104]

Biosolids Facts. Biosolids is another word for Land Applied Sewage Sludge: [Document 103]

Sewage Sludge Products Should Not be Applied to our Agricultural Lands where Food Crops are Grown. July 11,2009 Letter to the Editor by Murray McBride, Cornell Professor of Crop and Soil Science and Director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute: [Document 102]

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

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]

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

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

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

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 61-109

For information about sludge victims visit www.sludgevictims.com