angelburst29
The Living Force
The subject of Human Waste (treated) Sludge being used as a fertilizer for home vegetable gardens was in the local news about two years ago, in the rural Wilkes Barre - Scranton area, Pennsylvania. A treatment plant was offering it - free, in 20 lb. dry form plastic bags. Local residents protested in opposition to it's use. It got honorable mention, as a short news clip on the TV channels and since then, there's been a media black out.
The sludge is considered "organic" and marketed the same, as an organic biodegradable processed fertilizer. It makes me wonder, if the "organic produce" I purchase from the Farmer's Market or road side stands have been grown in these "biosolid's?"
Today, I came across this article of a farmer in Lebanon Township, north of Honesdale, Pa. using it on about 100 acres of land, to fertilize hay fields. The neighbors are NOT happy. The article doesn't mention what the hay is used for (cows, horses, etc.) or if processed bails of hay are trucked to another State?
Apparently, a firm by the name of Enviro-Ventures Inc. has been in the business of selling this Human Sewage Sludge as Fertilizer for ten years.
Human Sewage Sludge Fertilizer for Hay Crops
http://wnep.com/2013/10/30/sewage-sludge-fertilizer-upsetting-neighbors/
LEBANON TOWNSHIP – People living in a community north of Honesdale say something smells funny in their neighborhood. They say an area farmer is using sewage sludge to fertilize about 100 acres of land and they’re worried that mixture may be hurting the environment.
The mixture neighbors are referring to in Lebanon Township is biosolid fertilizer. A farmer in Wayne County is using the treated human waste to help his hay crops.
The Department of Environmental Protection says this is allowed in Pennsylvania, but some neighbors still have some serious concerns.
Take a walk through Dan Fuchs’ back yard north of Honesdale and it doesn’t take long to sense a certain stench in the air, different than the farm smells he’s used to.
“Well, it smells like sewage, if there was such a thing as smell-o-vision I think it would knock your viewers off their chairs,” said Fuchs.
Fuchs says the smell is coming from this field where his neighbor is spreading what he calls sludge.
It’s actually biosolids – a mix of treated human waste and additives according to the Department of Environmental Protection.
Jim Check lives just down the road here in Lebanon Township and cares for this nearby property as well. Check says they found not once but twice a large fish kill here and waste products in the fertilizer.
“It’s sold to us in topsoil, and we’re finding applicators in it, and also septic debris in it. It just doesn’t seem right to me,” said Check, who is president of the Wilderness Lake Association.
One property owner says he’s been doing everything by the books as he spreads this biosolid fertilizer across his farm in Wayne County.
“We’re staying in our designated watershed, and I wait till it’s cold to put it on. I even spread it in the rain the other days that the odor wouldn’t be bad,” said property owner Bill Pykus.
Pykus owns this farmland and says Enviro-Ventures Inc. has been spreading the biosolids for about ten years because it’s more economical.
The company’s owner says he’s never contaminated a watershed with his products.
“No, we’re very, very cautious as to where we land apply, the farms that we will land apply on. I personally, as the owner of the company, go out to each site and inspect it and there's some sites that I won’t pass,” said Enviro-Ventures Inc. owner Ned Lang.
The DEP has investigated reports of bad smells in the area and found nothing wrong, but says if residents have proof of other problems they should report it.
Again biosolids are an acceptable fertilizer according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Officials at the DEP say if any well water tests are contaminated in this part of Wayne County that those individuals should give them a call.
"Biosolids" and Human Health
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/biosolids-and-human-health/?_r=0
(Snapshop of biosolid)
Biosolids are a constantly changing brew of human, commercial, hospital and industrial wastes otherwise known as sludge. Proponents say it makes a useful fertilizer. Critics worry about the metals and pathogens that remain.
Farmers see it as a free source of fertilizer, while municipalities pay a tiny fraction of what they did for sludge removal — and less liquid waste ends up in waterways.
Still, not everyone likes the idea of biosolids. Legislators in rural Colbert County, Ala., for instance, are angling to amend the state constitution to curb biosolids use. Some Burlington City, N.C., residents have attributed their illnesses to farmers use of biosolids. And the Sierra Club and other environmental groups have recommended stricter standards for — or even prohibitions on — using biosolids as fertilizer.
What’s in biosolids that makes opponents squirm? Pharmaceuticals, steroids, flame-retardants, metals, hormones and human pathogens, among other things. Whether or not these present heath hazards when used as fertilizer, however, is a question that remains unresolved.
The Environmental Protection Agency found more than 100 toxins in its January 2009 Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey. But the agency concluded that, “It is not appropriate to speculate on the significance of the results until a proper evaluation has been completed and reviewed.”
Indeed, research on the long-term health effects of biosolids is sparse. The organizer of the Biosolids 2009 conference, the Water Environment Federation, has pointed to a 2002 statement by the National Academy of Sciences, which concluded that “there is no documented scientific evidence” that the E.P.A.’s standards for the use and disposal of sewage sludge have “failed to protect public health.”
Biosolids - Colorado Cantaloupe - Listeria
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/exclusive-biosolids-near-farm-examined-for-listeria-link
A company that sprays treated human waste on Colorado fields is being questioned as investigators look into the source of a listeria outbreak tied to Colorado-grown Cantaloupes.
The biosolids come from New York and are shipped to Colorado to be disposed of because New York cannot handle the volume of its human waste.
However, Colorado State University animal science professor Lawrence Goodridge said it is possible.
"If processed properly, there should not be pathogens. If they are not processed properly, if the wastewater treatment process breaks down, they could be (a) source of pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella, listeria and other pathogens," Goodridge said.
Biosolids are commonly used in many farms, said Goodridge.
While it has a safe track record in the United States, "in other countries, there have been outbreaks of food-borne pathogenic disease from biosolids," Goodridge said.
Listeriosis is a rare and serious illness caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria called listeria. People who think they might have become ill should consult their doctors. A person who becomes ill from listeria usually has a fever and muscle aches.
Listeriosis can be fatal, especially in certain high-risk groups. These groups include older adults, people with compromised immune systems and certain chronic medical conditions, such as cancer, and unborn babies and newborns. In pregnant women, listeriosis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and serious illness or death in newborn babies, though the mother herself rarely becomes seriously ill.
Eight people have died from the latest outbreak. Two of the deaths have been in Colorado.
Biosolids Concept
http://merrellbros.com/about.php
The sludge is considered "organic" and marketed the same, as an organic biodegradable processed fertilizer. It makes me wonder, if the "organic produce" I purchase from the Farmer's Market or road side stands have been grown in these "biosolid's?"
Today, I came across this article of a farmer in Lebanon Township, north of Honesdale, Pa. using it on about 100 acres of land, to fertilize hay fields. The neighbors are NOT happy. The article doesn't mention what the hay is used for (cows, horses, etc.) or if processed bails of hay are trucked to another State?
Apparently, a firm by the name of Enviro-Ventures Inc. has been in the business of selling this Human Sewage Sludge as Fertilizer for ten years.
Human Sewage Sludge Fertilizer for Hay Crops
http://wnep.com/2013/10/30/sewage-sludge-fertilizer-upsetting-neighbors/
LEBANON TOWNSHIP – People living in a community north of Honesdale say something smells funny in their neighborhood. They say an area farmer is using sewage sludge to fertilize about 100 acres of land and they’re worried that mixture may be hurting the environment.
The mixture neighbors are referring to in Lebanon Township is biosolid fertilizer. A farmer in Wayne County is using the treated human waste to help his hay crops.
The Department of Environmental Protection says this is allowed in Pennsylvania, but some neighbors still have some serious concerns.
Take a walk through Dan Fuchs’ back yard north of Honesdale and it doesn’t take long to sense a certain stench in the air, different than the farm smells he’s used to.
“Well, it smells like sewage, if there was such a thing as smell-o-vision I think it would knock your viewers off their chairs,” said Fuchs.
Fuchs says the smell is coming from this field where his neighbor is spreading what he calls sludge.
It’s actually biosolids – a mix of treated human waste and additives according to the Department of Environmental Protection.
Jim Check lives just down the road here in Lebanon Township and cares for this nearby property as well. Check says they found not once but twice a large fish kill here and waste products in the fertilizer.
“It’s sold to us in topsoil, and we’re finding applicators in it, and also septic debris in it. It just doesn’t seem right to me,” said Check, who is president of the Wilderness Lake Association.
One property owner says he’s been doing everything by the books as he spreads this biosolid fertilizer across his farm in Wayne County.
“We’re staying in our designated watershed, and I wait till it’s cold to put it on. I even spread it in the rain the other days that the odor wouldn’t be bad,” said property owner Bill Pykus.
Pykus owns this farmland and says Enviro-Ventures Inc. has been spreading the biosolids for about ten years because it’s more economical.
The company’s owner says he’s never contaminated a watershed with his products.
“No, we’re very, very cautious as to where we land apply, the farms that we will land apply on. I personally, as the owner of the company, go out to each site and inspect it and there's some sites that I won’t pass,” said Enviro-Ventures Inc. owner Ned Lang.
The DEP has investigated reports of bad smells in the area and found nothing wrong, but says if residents have proof of other problems they should report it.
Again biosolids are an acceptable fertilizer according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Officials at the DEP say if any well water tests are contaminated in this part of Wayne County that those individuals should give them a call.
"Biosolids" and Human Health
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/biosolids-and-human-health/?_r=0
(Snapshop of biosolid)
Biosolids are a constantly changing brew of human, commercial, hospital and industrial wastes otherwise known as sludge. Proponents say it makes a useful fertilizer. Critics worry about the metals and pathogens that remain.
Farmers see it as a free source of fertilizer, while municipalities pay a tiny fraction of what they did for sludge removal — and less liquid waste ends up in waterways.
Still, not everyone likes the idea of biosolids. Legislators in rural Colbert County, Ala., for instance, are angling to amend the state constitution to curb biosolids use. Some Burlington City, N.C., residents have attributed their illnesses to farmers use of biosolids. And the Sierra Club and other environmental groups have recommended stricter standards for — or even prohibitions on — using biosolids as fertilizer.
What’s in biosolids that makes opponents squirm? Pharmaceuticals, steroids, flame-retardants, metals, hormones and human pathogens, among other things. Whether or not these present heath hazards when used as fertilizer, however, is a question that remains unresolved.
The Environmental Protection Agency found more than 100 toxins in its January 2009 Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey. But the agency concluded that, “It is not appropriate to speculate on the significance of the results until a proper evaluation has been completed and reviewed.”
Indeed, research on the long-term health effects of biosolids is sparse. The organizer of the Biosolids 2009 conference, the Water Environment Federation, has pointed to a 2002 statement by the National Academy of Sciences, which concluded that “there is no documented scientific evidence” that the E.P.A.’s standards for the use and disposal of sewage sludge have “failed to protect public health.”
Biosolids - Colorado Cantaloupe - Listeria
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/exclusive-biosolids-near-farm-examined-for-listeria-link
A company that sprays treated human waste on Colorado fields is being questioned as investigators look into the source of a listeria outbreak tied to Colorado-grown Cantaloupes.
The biosolids come from New York and are shipped to Colorado to be disposed of because New York cannot handle the volume of its human waste.
However, Colorado State University animal science professor Lawrence Goodridge said it is possible.
"If processed properly, there should not be pathogens. If they are not processed properly, if the wastewater treatment process breaks down, they could be (a) source of pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella, listeria and other pathogens," Goodridge said.
Biosolids are commonly used in many farms, said Goodridge.
While it has a safe track record in the United States, "in other countries, there have been outbreaks of food-borne pathogenic disease from biosolids," Goodridge said.
Listeriosis is a rare and serious illness caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria called listeria. People who think they might have become ill should consult their doctors. A person who becomes ill from listeria usually has a fever and muscle aches.
Listeriosis can be fatal, especially in certain high-risk groups. These groups include older adults, people with compromised immune systems and certain chronic medical conditions, such as cancer, and unborn babies and newborns. In pregnant women, listeriosis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and serious illness or death in newborn babies, though the mother herself rarely becomes seriously ill.
Eight people have died from the latest outbreak. Two of the deaths have been in Colorado.
Biosolids Concept
http://merrellbros.com/about.php
