By Linda Christman

President, Save Carbon County

The Times News editorial page recently carried a column that downplayed concerns about the toxicity of sewage sludge when used as fertilizer. The writer repeated several myths that our group has often heard in response to our efforts to regulate the use of sewage sludge on local farm fields.

Myth No. 1: Sewage sludge as a fertilizer is perfectly safe because the EPA and our own PA Dept. of Environmental Protection say so.

Government agencies have been wrong before and sometimes spectacularly wrong. Both state and national governments touted the use of DDT for decades until a Pennsylvania writer, Rachel Carson, brought nationwide attention to the dangers of this chemical. The PADEP ignored parents who were concerned about illnesses associated with living near fracking wells. Early this year, Penn School of Medicine proved that children were susceptible to respiratory illnesses because they lived near these wells. The parents were right. PADEP was wrong.

Myth No. 2: Mankind has been using human excrement as fertilizer for centuries so what’s the big deal?

The sewage sludge of today is very different from the human excrement used on farm fields in years past. Today’s sewage sludge comes from urban wastewater treatment plants and contains everything that is flushed or poured down a drain in an urban setting including formaldehyde, arsenic, heavy metals, fuel, and grease washed from gas stations, cleaning liquids, medical waste, including radioactive medical waste, and solvents used in industry.

The EPA has now recognized 729 chemicals found in sewage sludge including 13 types of “forever chemicals,” plus PCBs, and hexavalent (that’s the chemical in the movie, “Erin Brockovich”).

Myth No. 3: Humans already have forever chemicals in our bloodstreams so why get excited about another source?

When sewage sludge is put on fields that grow produce for humans or feed for cattle, the forever chemicals enter our food chain. Meat and milk from cattle that have been fed grass and grains grown on sludged fields have shown high levels of forever chemicals when tested. Forever chemicals do not go away, they accumulate in our bloodstreams causing cancers and other serious health consequences. Every addition of forever chemicals adds to the danger to our health.

Myth No. 4: Save Carbon County is asking that sewage sludge be banned.

We simply want local governments to have a say about the use of sewage sludge within their jurisdictions. If the application of sewage sludge threatens to pollute a stream or a neighbor’s well or threatens the health and welfare of residents, local government should have the ability to regulate just as they regulate many issues through zoning and nuisance abatement. Why should the application of sewage sludge receive the extraordinary protections that the practice now enjoys? As the law currently stands, local government is prohibited from regulating an activity that impacts residents’ health, property values, and “the quiet enjoyment of one’s home.”