Farm Role In Sustainable Stewardship

Sewage Sludge Fertilizers In Farms

Farm Risks – Simply Put

• Farmers Are Given Filtered Information By The Sludge Industry – While Nitrogen & Phosphorus are present in sewage sludge, no two loads of sewage sludge have the same composition of chemicals or pathogens. The farmer does not know what is actually applied on his land.
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• Sewage treatment plants were never designed to produce fertilizer – They were designed to treat and condense whatever goes down the drain from homes, businesses, industry, hospitals, laboratories and funeral homes, where it collects at municipal waste water treatment plants.
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• Limited Testing, Limited Knowledge – Of the hundreds of toxins that the EPA has discovered in their own national test results, only 9 elements and 2 bacteria are required for testing to be considered ‘safe’. Testing is performed once a month to once a year, depending on the size of the waste water treatment plant.
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• Sewage Sludge Is Not Manure – The human ‘manure’ mixture of sewage sludge/biosolids from our modern waste water treatment plants is not the same as animal manure fertilizer. By using our human waste as a false fertilizer, farmers are introducing our own species bacteria and pathogens into our food and water supply.
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• Toxic Build-up Is Not Monitored – Distribution of sewage sludge based on ‘Best Management Practices’ does not monitor build-up of heavy metals in soil, plants or animals. Yield reductions due to the use of sewage sludge that are considered acceptable by EPA standards can be up to 50%.
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• Mysterious Sources – Sewage sludge can be imported from any state, municipality or city to any waste water treatment plant. Tracing what businesses, industries and medical facilities that have contributed to your sludge is not easy and makes testing of toxins extremely difficult.
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• Stuck With The Bill – Farmers who use sewage sludge as a fertilizer may be held legally, financially and morally responsible for contaminating neighboring land and water and lowering community home values. Once the sludge hauler leaves the farm, so does his financial protection.
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• Sludge on America’s Fields = Cheap Industrial Dumping – By promoting sewage sludge as a false fertilizer option to farms, home gardeners and parks, America’s food, water and communities are a cheap, short-term dump for businesses and industry. You are what you eat, America.

https://usludgefree.org/information/farm-risks