Editor's note:

This is the first of what I hope is a useful series of insights, intrigue, and general musings on a variety of health and environmental topics. Expect book reviews; flags on important magazine articles, such as a piece on the synergistic effects of chemicals in this months Ecologist; updates on the fight to stop the laundering of toxic wastes; notes on composting toilet building; travel logs; and just about anything else relevant to those concerned about the health and welfare of the planet.

Laura Orlando
Editor

Laundering Toxic Waste; Part One

Rolling green hills dotted with dairy cows and toxic waste. You can see the cows but you can't see the deadly concoction of metals and chemical toxins spread on the land under the guise of "compost." Sewage sludge peddlers in Vermont have a new tactic; toss municipal sewage sludge on a heap of wood chips for 60 days and give it away as compost.

Rural Vermont, a Vermont based grassroots organization advocating for rural health and welfare, is working with a local citizen's group, Citizens for Clean Compost, to stop a sludge composting plant in East Montpelier. They are knee deep in the fight, dodging media bullets fired by the state's Agency of Natural Resources and supplied by the U.S. EPA.

Untreated sewage sludge that is applied to land is regulated by state and federal agencies. This doesn't mean it is good policy, but it does mean some rules, including accounting for where it was spread, have to be followed. Composting sludge concentrates heavy metals and toxins, but according to the EPA it also "treats" it, thus rendering it free of regulation.

It's the laundering of toxic waste at its best. Industry, Superfund sites, and chemical dumpers have a new alchemy to solve their problems; trouble is, it could kill you.

Laura Orlando

ReSource Musings Archive