IMPORTANT COURT SESSION on FRIDAY, SEPT. 30--- Sludge, Local Control, and Antiquated Ideas

At 1 p.m. on Friday, September 30, a hearing will begin in Cowlitz County Superior Court. Consider showing up. This hearing concerns an issue that matters to every citizen of this state. Your fellow Washingtonians in tiny Wahkiakum County are fighting a lawsuit filed against them by the office of State Attorney General Rob McKenna, the plaintiff being the State of Washington, Department of Ecology.

Biosolids being sprayed on the Zerr farm in Whakiakum Co.. Photo by Poul Toftemark

So what in the world has this little county done to deserve legal action? Their county commissioners passed an ordinance banning the use of anything less than Class A "biosolids" (a PR term, a made-up euphemism for SEWAGE SLUDGE) on agricultural land in their county. People in this rural area, where organic farmers are trying to build up their industry and people are worried about the environment, are upset about the Department of Ecology forcing them to accept the worst kind of sludge, Class B, which is very minimally treated and contains pathogens, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, industrial waste, etc. AFTER the county commissioners passed an ordinance to ban this material, the Dept. of Ecology allowed a farmer to have it spread on his land, adjacent to the Grays River, in a flood plain, and near an organic farm and a dairy.

The court case amounts to this: Ecology claims this ordinance is unconstitutional. The county argues that it is not. That might sound boring but it is anything but boring. As I stated in a previous blog post linked to here, titled WAKE UP WASHINGTONIANS! Your county could be the next sludge dump!  Democracy itself is at stake! If you haven't already read that post, please do. It explains what is going on and links you to more information on the dangers of sludge, including the EPAa's own incriminating website! Every day,  news stories appear about sludge and it's dangers, including this latest news story and video about the listeria outbreak from contaminated cantaloupe. Biosolids from New York were sprayed on a field adjacent to the farm where the cantaloupes were grown and investigations are taking place to see if that is the source of the contamination. This material can become airborn when it dries.

Unfortunately, this court case is not about proving or disproving the safety of sludge. It's about legislative matters concerning local control versus state control and what is considered constitutional. I have spoken with Wahkiakum County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Bigelow. I also read through 46 pages of court documents. The depressing thing is, that while the courts wrangle over constitutionality issues, more and more farmland becomes contaminated with toxic sludge. The produce you buy might be grown in it. Remember, everything that goes down the toilet, sink, or a drain at home, or in a hospital or an industrial plants, ends up in sludge.

HERE IS THE GIST OF IT... This is all based on legislation passed between 1987 and 1992, written before today's more thorough scientific information on the dangers of sludge. The waste water treatment industry is huge and they have great PR campaigns, as well as a major disposal problem. Our Dept. of Ecology has a clearly stated aggressive agenda to push the "beneficial" use of biosolids. "Beneficial" to whom??? To the waste water treatment industry, folks, not to you! Their definition of "beneficial" is spreading the stuff on land to solve the disposal problem. Let's face it, as a nation we're producing a lot of sewage that needs to be dealt with, but growing our food in it is not the solution. Don't let anyone tell you that this kind of "recycling" is a good thing. Don't be fooled.

Like I said before, "Wake Up Washingtonians!"

I contacted the Tacoma News Tribune (and other local news outlets) about this story when I first heard about the lawsuit. I was told by one of its representatives that "our readers wouldn't be interested in this." The reason? It was happening in Wahkiakum Co. way down in S.W. Washington, not locally. Is that really how people think? The subject of a county's right to pass an ordinance to protect the health and safety of its citizens and the environment should matter to ALL of us.

Let's use our power as voters. Pay attention to this case. Show up in court if you can. Contact your legislators. Educate yourself on what "biosolids" really are (you can start here.) And please support organic farmers and local farmers markets.

Added note: Rob McKenna's campaign website doesn't even include the environment on its list of "issues." Take a look. Not a word. His slogan is "A New Direction for Washington." I don't know about all other issues, but when it comes to the environment, I'd say that direction would be DOWNHILL.

WAKE UP WASHINGTONIANS! Your county might be the next sludge dump.

 Biosolids being sprayed on the Zerr farm. Photo by Poul Toftemark

If you care about the environment, the rights of counties to protect the health and safety of their citizens, if you care about organic farming, and food and water safety, PLEASE read this and share it with everyone you know. DEMOCRACY is at stake in this story, along with many other vital issues.

What is happening is that a Wahkiakum County farmer requested a permit to have minimally treated Class B biosolids (SLUDGE) applied to his land, which borders the Grays River. This farm is in a flood plain. Nearby organic farms, a dairy farm, and even the public water supply are threatened. Many citizens are outraged, but so far the issue has received news coverage only in southwest Washington and from KATU Channel 2 TV news out of Portland, OR. Here's a link to the KATU story with VIDEO. PLEASE LOOK AT IT. I am trying to get people to realize how important this is to all of us.

 PLEASE WATCH THIS ADDITIONAL VIDEO BELOW.


Sewage Sludge on farmland from Tina Motley-Pearson on Vimeo.

If you are not aware of what Class B biosolids are, please read my recent blog post, From Toilet to Table. It will lead you to a lot of shocking information. And since writing it, I've learned of many more news stories having to do with illness, even death, caused by this material.

Every time I get one of those mailings from the City of Tacoma advocating TAGRO, the locally produced and promoted biosolid product, I feel sick. There are many news stories showing how UNSAFE biosolids really are. Promoting sludge as fertilizer is nothing more than a huge PR campaign folks, to get you to help dispose of this nasty stuff, because they simply don't know what to do with all of it.

I interviewed Wahkiakum County Commissioner Blair Brady to get the details. You can read excerpts from that interview below.  (note: the word "Ecology" throughout this quote, refers to the Washington State Department of Ecology)

Blair Brady: "One of my constituents read an advertising notice from Ecology in our local newspaper regarding the application of biosolids, to which end the word got out. It was a previously unknown issue in our county. The gentleman who owns a farm along Grays River had applied for, and was in the process of receiving, a permit to apply sludge, septic/human waste/industrial waste on his farmland, treated minimally for odor.

"Once this came to our attention we requested and received from Ecology another meeting, at which time approximately 150-200 people showed, local residents who had done their homework and were very well informed as to a number of problems with this human/industrial waste product and proceeded to give their evidence and testimony to Ecology, at which time Ecology considered it, took it, and returned a response. I think they changed a setback, but basically continued to issue a permit to apply what I consider to be a dangerous product. We as county commissioners have decided, or two out of three of us have decided, that is an unacceptable public safety and environment issue to allow to occur in our county.

"We realize the need to dispose of human waste and there has to be a way to do that. But with the modern technology limited as it currently is, we decided we could not accept anything that contained live organisms in it, also called pathogens, which include hepatitis and a whole myriad of other types of diseases and organisms. We had told Ecology we were going to be doing this, and we had a number of phone conversations with the regional director. We even had a meeting with Sally Toteff, the Western Regional manager of Ecology and a couple of other people from her office that manage the biosolids program, along with the three commissioners from Lewis County who also have concerns in this issue.

"At that meeting, I felt it was pretty much a waste of time. We had dialogs and they were rather heavy handed. They threatened to sue us if we were to proceed and it was basically going to be their way or the highway and they were not really interested in changing their position on the issue, stating that 'We’re the only ones that have the authority to regulate this.' So what that relates to, is forcing us to take a less-safe product.

"We proceeded after that, to pass an ordinance banning any application of biosolids below a Class A level of treatment, anywhere in our county, wherever Ecology would permit it. Two days after we passed our ordinance, they applied septage for two days and they claimed 'Oh we just became aware of your ordinance.' and they have discontinued since then. Ecology has admitted to us that they do not have the resources to adequately monitor this program either.

"After they applied this septage to this gentleman’s land, this land is supposed to be fenced off for a certain time frame, of livestock and everything else. Well, two days after the application, his cattle were in that field grazing. They’d broken through the fence or something.

"Our 19^th district state delegation of legislators and Senator Brian Hatfield wrote a letter to the Attorney General’s office requesting an AG’s opinion on the right of Ecology to force this upon us. The Attorney General’s office refused to render opinion to them. Then a few days after receiving their request, filed a law suit against Wahkiakum County. It’s bizarre that legislators can’t get the Attorney General to render an opinion. (Note: That's part of the AG's job. Click here for information.)

"It’s just kind of a shame that the recently announced gubernatorial candidate (Attorney General Rob McKenna) has decided to come down with a heavy hammer on small little Wahkiakumlands on this issue.

"This community is really pushing to become more organic farm based and create jobs and incomes for people to keep their farms through going certified organic. And I don’t see how the property this has been applied to could ever be used for that again."

PLEASE CARE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE! DON'T IGNORE IT JUST BECAUSE IT ISN'T IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD. THIS MATTERS TO ALL OF US, INCLUDING YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WHO WILL BE DEALING WITH THE NIGHTMARE SLUDGE CREATED!
You can e-mail Blair Brady at bradyb@co.wahkiakum.wa.us

Other recent news stories about sludge:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/204118/group/Opinion/

http://www.seas.yale.edu/news-news-detail.php?id=303

http://www.myfoodpoisoninglawyer.com/2011/06/european-e-coli-outbreak-claims-first-american-life/

http://weku.fm/post/biosolid-fertilizers-cheap-worrisome

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/hernando-rejects-plans-for-sewage-treatment-facility-near-homes/1175226

http://www.grist.org/food/2011-06-07-contaminated-compost-toxins-might-lurk-in-that-bag-youre-buying

And a book: Toxic Loopholes: Failure and Future Prospects for Environmental Law

For links to many other stories, just look at my blog post From Toilet to Table