Ockham's Razor

Twenty-six year old Shayne Conner died in a small New Hampshire town on a quiet November day in 1995. His mother, Joanne Marshall, has filed a wrongful death suit against Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. claiming the 650 tons of Class B lime-stabalized sewage sludge that Wheelabrator spread on a neighbor's field, 300 feet from Shayne's house, killed him.

Wheelabrator dumped the sludge on Rosamond Hughes' field in Greenland, NH, and let it sit there for several days. In it, besides whatever it is that was collected in the sewers and became the dregs of the sewage treatment process - in New Hampshire or elsewhere, as sludge is routinely shipped for disposal across state lines - was 24,000 pounds of lime and 700 pounds of a nitrogen based polymer used for dewatering the slurry. This material was then spread over the surface of the field by chain-dragging it with a tractor. It was spread in late October and repeatedly for the next three weeks; as it dried, itblew across the field toward Shayne Conner's house, carried by steady winds recorded at up to 38 miles per hour.

Shayne, his family, and their neighbors were overcome by the stench carried by the wind. They vomited. Their eyes, throats, and lungs burned. They had nosebleeds, severe headaches, congestion, fever, flu-like symptoms, nausea, and difficulty breathing.

Wheelabrator's expert witnesses said the sludge had nothing to do with Shayne Conner's death. Dr. David Lewis, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) microbiologist, said it had everything to do with it.

"Symptoms reported by Greenland residents are consistent with a growing number of cases where people have been exposed to airborne contaminants from land-applied sewage sludge. An explanation of these symptoms is well established in the scientific/medical literature based on inhaling of irritant gases and pathogen-contaminated, limed sludge dust, which can lead to infections of respiratory and gastrointestinal systems and serious, life-threatening complications."

Dr. Lewis' testimony is supported by a report in the Journal of Agromedicine, which says, "Our current state of knowledge clearly suggests that it is possible for odorous emissions from recycling of biosolids [putting sludge on land] to have an impact on physical health."

In his testimony, on behalf of the plaintiffs, Dr. Lewis summarized the case against sludge:

• No pathogens risk assessment was performed for the part 503 sludge rule (the EPA rules that govern the land-disposal of sludge).
• The 503 sludge rule failed an extensive peer-review by scientists inside the EPA.
• The EPA's Inspector General found EPA's oversight of land application of sewage sludge under the 503 rule to be ineffective, stating, "EPA cannot assure the public that current land application practices are protective of human health and the environment."
• The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety found the guidelines of the 503 sludge rule does not protect workers exposed to sewage sludge.
• The 503 sludge rule does not address risks from inhaling lime dust (which is always used with sludge spreading in the northeast) and irritant gases like the polymer used to dewater the sludge on Rosamond Hughes' land.

The lawyers and expert witnesses fighting Joanne Marshalls' wrongful death suit have twisted every shred of evidence into a mess of uncertainty. They said, for instance, that irritant levels of ammonia did not blow across Rosamond Hughes field. They used plenty of science to back them up. Dr. Lewis, in his testimony, mentions Ockham's Razor, a principle in which when there are competing theories, the simplest should get the most attention. "People with burning eyes, throat, and lungs who say they smell ammonia and are standing downwind of six hundred and fifty tons of material known to produce large quantities of ammonia are most probably experiencing irritation from breathing ammonia."

If it walks like a sick duck and talks like a sick duck...

Laura Orlando
Editor

Resources:

Expert witness report of David L. Lewis, Ph.D. in the case of Joanne M. Marshall, et al. v. Wheelabrator Water Technologies, Inc, et al. filed in Rockingham, NH Superior Court.

Journal of Agromedicine, Vol. 7, No. 1 2000, "Potential Health Effects of Odor from Animal Operations, Wastewater Treatment, and Recycling of Byproducts."

U.S. EPA Biosolids Management and Enforcement Audit Report. 2000-P-10. Office of Inspector General. Washington, D.C. March 20, 2000

Cocalis, J., et al. August 2000. Workers exposed to Class B biosolids during and after field application. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2000-158.

David Lewis is currently assigned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, as a visiting scientist. He is an unpaid expert witness for the plaintiffs in his capacity as a private citizen.

ReSource Musings Archive