The Green Party of Canada's position on Sewer Sludge aka "Biosolids"

The Green Party of Canada's position on stopping the sewage spreading, in response to a letter to all party leaders before the last federal election:

October 15, 2015

Dear Mr. Poushinsky,

Thank you for your letter regarding the use of sewage as a fertilizer. The Green Party believes that the use of biosolids for agriculture should be banned. We need improved policies to assess the environmental impacts of this practice, and protect the health of rural Canadians.

As I have said, “Human sewage sludge these days contains a lot of heavy metals, can contain pathogens. In other words, biological materials which can be deadly. It also contains a lot of pharmaceutical products.”

We need to improve both national and international regulatory regimes to prevent, reduce, and control the release of toxic substances and nutrients into our environment. There is an urgent need to limit the influx of agricultural wastewater and untreated human sewage into our waters.

The Green Party has been the most vocal opponent of the Harper Conservative changes to environmental regulation, which have gutted the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act, and the Fisheries Act, among other pieces of legislation.

We will continue to press for restored and improved environmental regulations in Canada to protect the health of our people and our ecosystems.

The Green Party will further support environmental stewardship in agriculture by:
● Protecting and improving the quality of water in our streams, lakes, and aquifers
● Working with provinces to ensure that all livestock waste is safely recycled and that contamination by agricultural runoff
is avoided
● Introducing costshared programs to help farmers protect wildlife habitat areas and marginal lands, and maintain water and soil quality.

Greens share your concern about the buildup of phosphorus in Canadian waters. Algal blooms in bodies like Lake Winnipeg are feeding off sewage and agricultural chemicals. We must recommit to strong water quality regulations, to ensure that our waters are protected from hazardous runoff.

Above all, we must restore public scientific capacity in Canada. Without federal scientific expertise and consistent and reliable monitoring of pollutants, we are flying blind. The Green Party commits to restoring science based policy and ensuring unfettered access to public
science. We will provide $75million annually to add critical science capacity to Environment Canada, Health Canada, Parks Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans.

As we rebuild our federal scientific capacity, we will also strengthen the role of scientific evidence in federal decision making by restoring the position of the National Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and establishing a Parliamentary Science Officer.

To answer your specific questions,

we will agree to allow the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to fulfill its mandate to enforce the Canadian Fertilizer Act and stop the spreading of hazardous municipal sewage sludge biosolids on farmland.

We will agree to have government investigate the probable links between the sewage spreading and health and environmental problems.

We will agree to apply the Precautionary Principle and stop the spreading of municipal sewage sludge on Canada's farmland until full and proper research into the health and environmental consequences is carried out by government.

We will agree to compensate those who have suffered harm from sewage spreading on farmland, and to undertake remedial action to overcome whatever environmental damage it has caused.

The Green Party will lead Canada back to evidence based policy making, will strengthen environmental regulations, and will increase needed monitoring to ensure that Canadians are protected from exposure to hazardous materials.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May, OC
Leader of the Green Party of Canada

Sludging Farms in Italy

Here is a very recent short documentary video on sewer sludge disposal on Italian agricultural lands. Some very good reporting here, and eye-opening footage of this disgraceful practice (thank you to fellow sludge fighter Aldo Agosta for providing this, and doing the subtitles!! )

Why we must end the land-disposal of sewer sludge aka “biosolids”

Switzerland has completely banned the use of sewer sludge aka "biosolids" on agricultural soils. They took this stand because of "the risk of irreversible damage to the soil, the danger to public health and possible negative effects on the quality of the food farmers produce" ... "the precautionary principle has absolute priority in soil protection." … "Soil is a limited, ecologically and economically valuable non-renewable resource. Along with water and air, it is essential for life.”  We must stop the sludge industry from calling this toxic goulash a “soil amendment.”  As Dr. Caroline Snyder has noted - "Land-applied municipal sewage sludge (biosolids) is a highly complex and unpredictable mixture of biological and chemical pollutants. Biosolids generated in our large industrialized urban centers is very likely the most pollutant- rich waste mixture of the 21st century."

Safety testing, by biosolids scientists, looks merely at single chemical toxicity amounts. This is faulty, simplistic, and outdated. As the scientists taking part in the Halifax Project have shown, it is the exposure to a variety of toxins in low-dose that can cause cancer. (The Halifax Project took place between 2012 and 2015 and it involved more than 350 cancer researchers and physicians from 31 countries …  focused on the carcinogenic potential of low dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment - see http://www.gettingtoknowcancer.org/taskforce_environment.php) The absurd situation is that we have soil specialists, agronomists etc. determining the safety of something they are utterly unqualified to make such pronouncements about - this is the purview of chemists, doctors/oncologists.

Ignoring this problem may be a very grave mistake indeed. As Dr. Rayne has noted – “An unimaginably large number of chemical and biological contaminants exist in these materials, and they persist in the product up to, and after, land disposal. Scientific investigations have identified only a tiny fraction of the total contaminant load … You are not going to find a problem if you don't look for it. Of course, over time, that problem may also come looking for you … Governments are playing Russian roulette with sewage sludge. Over time, there is a high probability this game will be lost at the public's expense.” (see http://bit.ly/1sb2qOP )

The sludge industry has co-opted much of the language of sustainability. This however is an unwarranted annexation. Land disposal is not "recycling"; it is simply transferring a complex mixture of toxic chemicals and pathogens from our large industrialized urban centers to farms and forests. The spreading of a city’s toxic burden onto rural areas can’t be seen as “green” in any way. The constant trucking of thousands of tons of sewage waste into the countryside represents a huge CO2 release into our already compromised environment. Imagine the savings if a gasification plant were to be situated directly beside the waste water treatment facilities!

The issue of Prions in Biosolids represents such a grave danger that the precautionary principle must apply. A recent and alarming publication by Valerius Geist, Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary David Clausen, (former) Chair, Wisconsin Natural Resources Board Vince Crichton, (former) Co-Chair, Canada’s National Wildlife Disease Strategy Darrel Rowledge, Director, Alliance for Public Wildlife) made the following observations - "Normal sewage treatments do not degrade or inactivate prions: “most would partition to activated sludge solids, survive mesophilic anaerobic digestion, and be present in treated biosolids."  … “CWD is certainly the most contagious prion infection, with infected animals shedding prions from every orifice." … "CWD has been shown to persist and remain infectious in the environment. CWD prions adhere to minerals such as montmorillonite (Mte) in clay-based soils that can dramatically increase infectivity, up to 680 times" … "Transmission of CWD has been shown to occur: animal to animal, soil to animal, plants to animal, soil to plants to animal" … "This underscores the very essence of the precautionary principle, and nowhere is it more requisite than with respect to infectious pathogens. Inadequate policy or regulatory failures can result in pandemics that kill thousands or even millions of people or other animals, causing enormous damage on economies and ecosystems.”  (http://www.apwildlife.org/publications/)

Superbugs are emerging as a serious threat and they are found in these waste residuals. Sewage sludge/biosolids contain a  largely unknown number of bacterial and viral pathogenic organisms, protozoan and other parasites as well as prions. What is often never discussed in the pro-sludge and biosolids literature is the fact that ALL sewage treatment plants in the world, including all secondary and tertiary treatment plants breed Superbugs or multi-drug resistant bacteria, (Y. Luo et al, Environmental Sci. Technol. Lett. 2014, 1, 26-30; A. McGlashen, Sci.Am. 2017, 01/18.) The reason is simply the fact that antibiotics end up in sewage and during the treatment process with bacteria, the bacteria that acquire antibiotic resistance will get selected in the presence of antibiotics in the sewage. These and other Superbugs make their way into the sewage treatment plants from the hospitals, homes and industrial facilities and so it makes sense that we should not spread them or plasmids containing the genes for this resistance on the land where they can further contaminate and multiply their resistance genes. (see also "Deadly superbugs from hospitals get stronger in the sewers" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-superbug-sewers-20160307-story.html )

We have better methods of dealing with our cities’ toxic sewage waste. Gasification / pyrolysis is by far the best, cleanest option to date. As Yale professor Jordan Peccia has noted, gasification “can destroy pathogens and mineralize persistent organic chemical contaminants, while producing energy and concentrating valuable metals and inorganic chemicals.” These units have been up and running for well over a decade in Austria, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Korea, Sweden, and the USA.

Rarely has there been a less regulated toxic substance. Every aspect of the process, from site selection to application procedures, to the toxic composition of the sludge itself — all of it is woefully under-supervised. In fact, to a great extent it relies on self-regulation. OMRR guidelines (and the EPA's) are simply inadequate to deal with emerging environmental issues or ensure public safety. If the product is as the gov’t says, “stringently regulated”, then why out of the thousands of toxins and chemicals in biosolids are only about a dozen tested for? How, if it is so “stringently regulated,” did the Suzuki Foundation recently find very toxic components in the bisosolids delivered to the Nicola Valley from the Lower Mainland? If biosolids are deemed to be “safe” then why do major food producers like Campbells, DelMonte and Whole Foods reject any produce raised with Biosolids? Because they rightly fear the levels of toxicity, that’s why! The Water Utilities do a great job of separating the dangerous chemicals out of the water, so that water can be returned to Mother Earth. Why would we ever think it a good idea to turn around and put those collected and concentrated toxins back into the environment we just took them out of? It is reckless and short-sighted.

ike the Halifax Project with its 300+ cancer doctors) are trying to get the world to acknowledge. The absurd situation is that we have soils specialists, agronomists etc determining the safety of something they are utterly unqualified to make such pronouncements about - this is the realm of chemists, doctors, oncologists ...ike the Halifax Project with its 300+ cancer doctors) are trying to get the world to acknowledge. The absurd situation is that we have soils specialists, agronomists etc determining the safety of something they are utterly unqualified to make such pronouncements about - this is the realm of chemists, doctors, oncologists ...

Dr. Thomas Maler – “it seems obvious that application of sewage sludge/biosolids on the land is not the answer to dispose of these toxins and pathogens … Not putting this toxic soup on the land is the only way of protecting our environment and that’s the primary reason for treating our sewage in the first place.” (see http://bit.ly/2zXeXwo for Dr. Maler's overview of the issues) 

Dr. Richard Honour - "Few in any governments appreciate that nearly all chronic diseases are caused by long-term exposure to low levels of environmental contaminants and pollutants. We should be trying to minimize this exposure, not amplifying it. It is time to end land disposal of Toxic Sewer sludge, and look at cleaner, greener alternatives - gasification / pyrolysis."

Swiss Protect their Soils & Ban Biosolids from Agriculture

The Swiss have totally banned "biosolids" from agriculture and developed other policies to protect its soils! 

Switzerland has completely banned the use of sewer sludge aka "biosolids" on agricultural soils.

They took this stand because of "the risk of irreversible damage to the soil, the danger to public health and possible negative effects on the quality of the food farmers produce." ... "the precautionary principle has absolute priority in soil protection."

"Soil is a limited, ecologically and economically valuable non-renewable resource. Along with water and air, it is essential for life."

"All human activities affecting the soil must always take into account that it is scarcely possible to generate new soil because soil formation takes a very long time. Soil is an inert medium that takes a long time to respond to exogenous influences, which means that problems are only recognised later and often too late. Soil is the final repository for pollutants, which means that chemical pollution is often irreversible. That is why only structurally intact soil can function properly."

"Precautionary measures must be taken to protect fertile soil - irrespective of its use - from physical, chemical and biological pressures."

"Like water, air, and forests, soil is a common good, which may be used but not destroyed by its owner. Anyone who uses the soil is also responsible for protecting it."

"Chemical soil contamination impairs soil fertility. It leads to defects in plant growth and causes health risks for humans and animals through the consumption of contaminated harvested products, polluted groundwater and direct contact with soil (e.g. by playing children)."

For more on the Swiss concepts of soil protection see - https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/topics/soil/info-specialists/soil-protection-measures.html

For more on the original ban on biosolids see - https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-1673.html 

A note on "EQ - Class A Biosolids"

A note on "EQ" "Class A" "Biosolids"

From sludge industry player Lystek -

“In Class A biosolids, pathogens must be reduced to virtually non-detectable levels and the material must also comply with strict standards regarding metals, odours and vector attraction reduction (VAR) as specified in the US EPA, Part 503 Rule. VAR refers to processing which makes the biosolids less attractive to vectors, which have the potential for transmitting diseases directly to humans or can play a role in the life cycle of a pathogen, as a host. Examples of vectors are flies, mosquitoes, rodents, birds, etc. Various processes can be utilized to achieve Class A designation such as anaerobic digestion, lime stabilization, composting and thermal hydrolysis. This designation means the material meets U.S. EPA guidelines for land application with no restrictions. Thus, Class A biosolids can be legally used as fertilizer on farms, vegetable gardens, and can be sold to home owners as compost or fertilizer. The term Class A EQ (Exceptional Quality) is used to describe a biosolids product that not only meet, but exceed, all Class A pathogen reduction metals and VAR requirements.”  (http://lystek.com/what-are-class-a-class-b-biosolids/)

“EQ, Class A, and Biosolids” – these are not scientific terms – they are PR terms cooked up to generate sales. They are simply “putting lipstick on a pig”!  -- A very toxic pig at that.

Note that only 10 metals and pathogens are tested for to qualify as "EQ" (along with odour and vector reduction). There are thousands of toxins in sewer sludge aka “biosolids” – and here are just a few of them (none tested for) that may be found in your so-called “EQ” compost - dioxins ,acetone, anthracene, barium, beryllium, carbon disulfide, 4-chloroaniline, diazinon, fluoranthene, manganese, methyl ethyl ketone, nitrate, nitrite, phenol, pyrene and silver. Worrying too is that prions, microplastics, fire retardants, hormones and synthetic hormones, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and plasticizers may all be found in biosolids of ALL classes.

Safety testing, by biosolids scientists, looks merely at single chemical toxicity amounts. This is faulty, simplistic, and outdated. As the scientists taking part in the Halifax Project have shown, it is the exposure to a variety of toxins in low-dose that can cause cancer. (The Halifax Project took place between 2012 and 2015 and it involved more than 350 cancer researchers and physicians from 31 countries …  focused on the carcinogenic potential of low dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment) See this link for more on their findings -  http://www.gettingtoknowcancer.org/index.php


The use of sewer sludge / “biosolids” in farming or home gardening means exposing people to a myriad of potentially dangerous toxins. The precautionary principle must apply!

The minimal "processing" done to the sludge - be it adding lime, or woodchips, and composting it - anaerobic or aerobic digestion, pelletizing it, or liquifying it - all of these are superficial treatments. The problematic constituents within this matrix of pollutants remains primarily the same. As numerous studies, including those of the US Geological Survey, have shown - thousands of chemicals remain in these so-called "biosolids" … 

 Microplastics? - Still present - ( https://bit.ly/2Sngwd2 "43% of microplastics that go down the drain eventually end up applied to agricultural land as biosolids." ) Nanomaterials? -Still present - (Uptake of Nanomaterials see - https://rsc.li/2WfDdCA ). Endocrine disruptors like flame retardants? - Still present - (The U.S. Geological Survey scientists confirmed that rainfall mobilized chemicals (including detergents, fire retardants, plasticizers, and antibacterials) from municipal biosolids-amended agricultural fields, directly to runoff. Most (14 of 17) of the chemicals examined were present in edge-of-the-field runoff and not depleted in concentration after three 100-year rainfall events For more on this see - https://on.doi.gov/2Eisa4M ). Prions? - Still present - ( "if prions were to enter municipal wastewater treatment systems, most of the agent would partition to activated sludge solids, survive mesophilic anaerobic digestion, and be present in treated biosolids.'' see - https://bit.ly/2GznGZJ ) In fact some  problems like superbugs - antimicrobials, may even get worse through these processes (Antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria - https://bit.ly/2KM7xj5 - "spreading of sewage sludge leads to a significant increase of ARG in the soil" )

To see this sludge then as a "soil amendment" is to make an absurd leap - both in logic and in language! The purveyors of this sludge, those in the biosolids business, have "greenwashed" the language, BUT there is simply no way that present-day science can "wash" away these thousands of chemicals. It is a waste product rich in pollutants. 

For more insight into these issues from arm’s length scientists please see  -


"Polluting for Profit"-The "Biosolids" Business  https://bit.ly/2DKNpff
Biosolids dangers- bit.ly/2EuAP3K
USA Scientists- https://bit.ly/2VRnush
UK Scientists - https://bit.ly/2noyE7s
Canadian Scientists- http://bit.ly/1sb2qOP
The Guardian- https://bit.ly/2LPWNSM


For more on “biosolids” being used in compost for gardening, please see –

 Gardening with Toxic #biosolids =
 http://healthjournal.life/human-sewage-sludge-in-compost-its-really-a-thing-and-beware/
 https://www.focusforhealth.org/beware-toxic-organic-compost/
 https://www.planetnatural.com/compost-sewage/
 http://biosolidsbattleblog.blogspot.ca/2016_09_01_archive.html

We Should Expect More out of Our Sewage Sludge

Below are some of the highlights from this important, recent assessment of land disposed Sewer Sludge - in the end, the conclusion these independent professors come to is simple: “ We do not advocate the continuation of land application”

Professors - Jordan Peccia*† and Paul Westerhoff‡

† Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, Mason Laboratory, 9 Hillhouse Avenue, P.O. Box 208286, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States ‡ School of Sustainable Engineering and The Built Environment, Arizona State University, Box 3005, Tempe, Arizona 85287-3005, United States - Environ. Sci. Technol., 2015, 49 (14), pp 8271–8276 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b01931 Publication Date (Web): June 24, 2015 Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society

Hazardous Chemical and Pathogen Content

Words that start with the letters “slu” do not usually connote something with a positive public image. Sewage sludge is no exception. Sludge is a record of what society excretes. This includes any pathogen that is contained in human feces, urine, and vomitus. A recent study found more than 27 different forms of human viruses in the sewage sludges of five large U.S. cities, ranging from Adenovirus to Corona virus to HIV.(1) Antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes are common in wastewater and biosolids.(2, 3) Stabilization is meant to reduce this pathogen load, usually by 1–2 orders of magnitude for class B treatments. Microbial risk analyses, which have typically shown limited risk to residents for Salmonella spp. and Enterovirus(4) have recently suggested significantly increased risk of infection due to emerging viruses such as Norovirus.(6) Metals and organic chemicals that resist biological mineralization can sorb to solid particles and also accumulate in sludge. These include polybrominated flame retardants, pharmaceuticals like Prozac and Tagamet, human hormones such as estrogen, antibiotics, narcotics including cocaine, and the metabolites of these compounds.(8, 9) Class B land application can include spreading tons of sludge per acre of land, producing a strong odor and attracting disease vectors. The chemical and microbial content and sludge odor are important drivers to the public resistance to land application.(10) Land application disputes are a large source of litigation and hundreds of human health complaints from residents living near land application sites have been logged.(11) More so than regulations, costs, or environmental concerns, those that manage biosolids land application programs cite concerns from neighbors, environmental groups, and others as the top pressures on their programs.(7)

Converting Infrastructure to Extract Value from Sludge

Sludge is the receptor of wastewater’s contaminants. It may not ever be feasible to treat the product to a level that contains no pathogens, no toxins, no hazardous chemicals, and no odors, and can be spread back into the environment with no public objections. Based on the above analysis, the more economical, socially acceptable, and environmentally sustainable approach may be to exploit sewage sludges for metals, nutrients, and energy.

Energy Recovery

One approach capable of achieving several treatment and recovery goals for biosolids would be combustion-based technologies associated with incineration, gasification or liquifaction. Combustion can destroy pathogens and mineralize persistent organic chemical contaminants, while producing energy and concentrating valuable metals and inorganic chemicals.

Conclusions: We Should Expect More

Sludge management is a central component of water quality engineering. Regardless of the approach to treating wastewater, primary and secondary sludge will be produced. A future that is concerned with economics, water usage, energy conservation, beneficial reuse, recycling and environmental health will demand more of sewage sludge. We do not advocate the continuation of land application, as it has limited social and economic sustainability

The whole paper can be read here - http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.102...

Dr. Richard Honour reflects on TSS (Toxic Sewer Sludge) after the "Biosolids" Forum in BC

Land-Disposed Toxic Sewage Sludge:            The Great Public Health Hazard Cover-Up

It’s a scary world out there, and even scarier now with the current global explosions... of cancer and infectious diseases, two self-imposed global public health hazards that recognize no borders or demographic boundaries.

A quick investigation of the world’s view on what may be the greatest public health hazards of our time reveals some ignored or otherwise missing dangers. Health agencies worldwide reveal new information on toxics, but lo and behold, with no mention of Toxic Sewage Sludge as a considerable, universal and inescapable hazard to public health.

The literature is filled with messages of risk, threat and harm (aka, death) associated with anything nuclear or radiological, or about cigarettes, opioid drugs or terrorists, or about industrial, medical or household toxics on a one-by-one basis, but little is presented about the obscure but pervasive killer known as Toxic Sewage Sludge, and even less about the on-going planned and intended route to constant human exposure via Land-Disposed Toxic Sewage Sludge.

More amazing is that government agencies, academic institutions and industry lobbyists (biosolids management associations and sludge disposal firms, as examples) continue to promote broad-scale contamination of our air, soil, food and water with Toxic Sewage Sludge, under a variety of product names, supposedly ‘treated’ by any of several methods promoted to render such toxics as being ‘safe’ or ‘in compliance.’ To them, human life has little value, while the value they ascribe to the sludge disposal industry is based on the value they place on their own selfish and personal interests.

Odd thing is, not one of them has ever performed a safety/toxicology test on a single sample of Toxic Sewage Sludge, so who guides and permits their behavior, and who then will be held personally liable for the resulting harm, injury and death? Their days of hiding are numbered.

Are we missing something, or are we are letting something sinister go by unnoticed, perhaps by plan and intent? Not necessarily so.

At a most excellent conference last week in Kamloops (Interior Scientific Forum on Biosolids, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada) multiple speakers presented lists and charts of hundreds (illustrative examples of thousands) of chemicals and infectious agents known to be in any and all Toxic Sewage Sludges, and at the same time we were presented with other lists of toxics known to be carcinogens, among their other adverse toxic characteristics. Curiously, when superimposed, the lists are nearly the same; the toxics known to be contained in Land-Disposed Toxic Sewage Sludge are generally the same toxics that cause cancer and so many other chronic diseases, with little exception.

The sources of the toxics are common municipal, medical and industrial sewage sludge, plus the leachates from solid waste landfills and stormwater runoff - the most toxic sources of all. While all of it is subjected to some superficial processing to achieve marginal or questionable compliance, none of it is treated to achieve Safety - none! Matters of Public Health and Safety, and of Human and Environmental Health, garner no appreciation in matters of the disposal of Toxic Sewage Sludge.

It is a criminal act to dispose of Toxic Sewage Sludge in our forests, farms, rangelands, foods, air and waters when the Safety (antonym of Toxicity) of the thousands of chemicals and pathogens in Toxic Sewage Sludge has never been tested or assured. No one has shown that individually or in combination (or through the near-infinite permutations of the combinations of toxics) that Toxic Sewage Sludge-borne toxics do not present risk or threat of harm to human or environmental health, meaning that such toxics must therefore be safe, a bold contradiction in terms, for sure.

Simply by invoking the Null Hypothesis, i.e., that Sewage Sludge is Toxic, it would be revealed (by validated toxicological testing methods) that if all possible tests are performed to show that Sewage Sludge is Toxic, but if said toxicity were not observed, then the Null Hypothesis would be rejected, and Sewage Sludge would be determined to be non-toxic (or Safe). Absent such testing, it must be concluded that Toxic Sewage Sludge is Toxic, and it must be asserted well that any person who produces, transports, spreads, promotes, authorizes or allows the Land Disposal of Toxic Sewage Sludge must be held criminally liable and personally responsible for any resulting injury or harm, near- or long-term, no matter the reason or cause for such toxic waste disposal.
Toxic Sewage Sludge is Toxic Waste.

There are alternatives for the proper treatment of Toxic Sewage Sludge, which are not only clear, but could represent a profit to the Toxic Sewage Sludge disposers. Thermal Conversion by any of several advanced technologies and methods, such as by gasification, as one example, easily converts Toxic Sewage Sludge into heat energy, yielding syngas for fuel, plus valuable ash and biochar for beneficial reuse, and then an absence of Toxic Sewage Sludge that inevitably kills us all. There are available alternatives, yet we watch the death rate climb, while such alternatives are being contemplated.

We cherish our forests, rangelands, wetlands, air, food and waters, which give us sustenance and peace, and now they are violated, for no good cause or reason. It is time to abolish all land disposal of Toxic Sewage Sludge.

Richard Honour, February, 2017.