Buried in sludge, continued

By Mary Lou Wendell

David Bouldin, another of the Cornell researchers who specializes in soil and crop services, says the problem with the EPA rules is that they were designed to apply to all states. So the EPA "bent over backwards" not to restrict so called "beneficial uses" anywhere in the country. But the Midwest is very different from the Northeast, he says. "We feel the crops and soils in the Northeast are more susceptible to toxicity from heavy metals." Therefore, the rules should be tougher, he says.

While it's unlikely that waste that's currently spread on land in Maine will increase in toxicity because of the rule changes, Harrison says she believes the changes will open the state up to sewage sludge from outside the state. It makes it easier "for the stuff to move across state lines."

And that makes people like Richardson angry. "This is a real big issue," Richardson says. "If we're not careful, we're probably going to be buried by one type of waste or another."

Around the country, a number of incidents involving sewage sludge has helped to galvanize opposition to the practice. Last year, a farmer in Canaan, New Hampshire, got sick and 33 of his cows died after they were accidentally fed silage that had been mixed with treated sewage sludge. In recent years, an 11-year-old boy died in Pennsylvania shortly after he rode his bicycle through a field where sludge had just been spread. And in 1995, a 26-year-old man named Shayne Connor died one month after sludge was dumped on a field near his home in New Hampshire. In Connor's case, the state's medical examiner ruled that the death had nothing to do with the sludge. However, an EPA microbiologist claims the death does appear related to the sludge.

David L. Lewis, at one time a leading microbiologist for the EPA who began working for the agency in 1971, has said that many illnesses around the country among people exposed to sludge and even the two deaths showed signs that these health problems were caused by chemical irritants, including ammonia, in the sludge. Lewis has also criticized the EPA rules on sludge spreading as too lenient and has since been branded a troublemaker by the EPA. He has several whistleblower lawsuits pending against the EPA.

BioGro's Gratton says these claims are unfounded and that stories about illness and deaths because of sludge have taken on urban-legend proportions. BioGro also happens to be the company that dumped the sludge near Connor's home in New Hampshire. The company is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the young man's family. "There is not one scintilla of evidence that the plaintiffs have been able to demonstrate" any connection between the death and the sewage sludge that had been spread nearby, which Gratton calls "biosolids recycling." But rumors to the contrary are still "floating around the country because of the Internet," Gratton says. "It's really unfortunate. . . . When somebody goes to the community and they tell that story, it scares the daylights out of a community."

Others have complained of ill health affects from sewage sludge spreading in Maine as well. Elizabeth Flewelling, a retired beautician who lives in Unity, says her neighbor had sludge spread on his farm last year. Since then, she and her husband have suffered from intestinal problems and other ailments. The couple has also since found out that their well is polluted with choloform, as are five other wells in their neighborhood. The Flewellings are buying spring water for drinking now but still use their well water for bathing and washing dishes. They worry that they are still being exposed to toxins in their water. Elizabeth firmly believes the problems with her water came from her neighbor's sludge spreading. She has complained to the DEP and has hired a lawyer.

"We have had correspondence back and forth with her attorney," says Pollock with the DEP. "That's something that's certainly not resolved." Pollock would say nothing more about Flewelling. He does say that the department's "position is that the risk from land spreading is minimal." The issue has "to deal more with management. Obviously, with all the rules in the world, nothing's going to be effective if the site isn't managed properly. So that's up to the generator and the operator of the site."

On this point, sludge spreading opponents become their angriest. They say the DEP has little time to check up on sludge spreading practices and does not require enough testing of the sewage that's spread on farm fields. Last year, some changes were made to state law that gave towns the authority to oversee sludge spreading in their communities, allowing them to make sure state sludge-spreading licensees are following the rules. While this was considered a gain, many residents around the state feel towns should have the authority to say no to sewage sludge that's generated outside of their towns.

State Senator Sharon Treat, a lawyer who lives in Gardiner and serves on the legislature's Natural Resources Committee, says bills are often introduced to try to give towns more authority over sewage-sludge spreading. "It's a huge issue because it's a huge amount of waste and it has to go somewhere," Treat says. "But the law pretty narrowly describes what towns can do. I personally support expanding the municipalities' role. The DEP doesn't have the time. They give licenses for a very long time, previously with no end date so they never came up for renewal. But the political power is with the large communities that want to spread the waste. They make sure that major changes in the state law don't happen. But we have gotten through some minor changes."

Treat also says that big companies like BioGro hire lobbyists to also make sure that changes in the law don't take place.

It's a problem, Treat says. "I too have some concerns about whether the regulations are strict enough on sewage spreading."

Page 1 | 2