N-Viro sludge unleashed on Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia had a disasterous sludge experience when Halifax sludge was trucked out to Inglewood Farms in Lower Truro a few years back. The province came up with some sludge rules, but these regulations are seen as inadequate to manage the material. For the past year, stakeholders have been meeting to review Nova Scotia sludge biosolids issues and make recommendations for better regulatory policies.
Nothing has changed.
The Province of Nova Scotia intended to require that Halifax sludge, treated through N-Viro technology, be certified as in compliance with the Fertilizer Act by requiring a 'letter of no objection' from the federal Fertilizer Section of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The sludge material from N-Viro is sewage sludge mixed with cement kiln dust from Lafarge Brookfield. Unfortunately Lafarge Brookfield burns used oil and this leaves thallium and other toxic metals in their cement kiln dust.
The N-Viro sludge mix has been in storage through the winter.
Suddenly on Friday before the long weekend, the sewage sludge was sold to farmers even though there is no letter from the Federal regulator.
Even though stakeholders say that the Nova Scotia sewage biosolids are inadequate to protect farming, the environment and public health - that is all that is regulating this sludge. Indeed, since N-Viro and the province and the CFIA all refuse to provide testing results or a fertilizer label: no one knows what is in this stuff. Even Lafarge Brookfield refuses to send a Material Safety Data Sheet for their cement kiln dust.
Halifax; sewage sludge is once again on the way to farmland.
Buyer beware.
..............................................................
Nova Scotia Food Land - No Place For Sludge Toxins
Commentary - Fred Blois - May 22, 2008
It is important to consider that current waste water treatment plant technology was not designed to remove many of the nutrients, estrogenic compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products present in waste water. Therefore, current technologies may be creating risks of unknown magnitude for public health, risks that could last for generations given the fact that many of the components found in biosolids are bioaccumulative and persistent.
This considered, the public is concerned that comprehensive testing is not required on the biosolids that are now being and are about to be land applied in Nova Scotia. Present regulations do not adequately address the need to test for the drugs, chemicals, a number of toxic heavy metals, and pathogens that are contained in many biosolids, which can pose serious detrimental environmental and public health threats. Furthermore, present regulations do not consider the potential synergistic and lipophilic effects of multiple contaminants that may be contained in the biosolids. Chlorine, for example, can combine with natural organic material found in dirt and soils to create a variety of carcinogenic chlorinated hydrocarbons, including toxins like chloroform and trihalomethanes. The absence of scientific evidence requiring biosolid testing does not mean that there is no risk involved in the practice of land applying biosolids, instead it shows that there is not enough evidence to deem it a safe practice.
The Halifax Regional Municipality has selected a method that combines an equal amount of sewage sludge and cement kiln dust in a patented process to create a biosolid which is then destined for disposal on agricultural land.
Independent testing of land applied biosolids created by Inglewood Farms and having a significant component of HRM sewage sludge in 2004 indicated some of the highest levels of
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardents) ever recorded in the world in addition to a long list of additional contaminants’.
.
Cement Kiln Dust is an industrial waste in the cement industry and as such it has the potential to be contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins. Samples of CKD sourced from Lafarge’s Pleasant Valley cement plant by Department of Environment and Labour (DOEL) staff in 2007, and tested by Maxxam Analytics, recorded the presence of 21 heavy metals in these samples. Of particular concern in these samples is the heavy metal Thallium, which was recorded at a level of 2.3 parts per million. This level exceeds the accepted parameters for contaminated soil in landfills, and yet it is a component of biosolids that are being applied to agricultural land and subsequently becoming part of our food chain. Thallium has recently been identified in milk which was the resultant of agricultural land contaminated by sewage sludge in Georgia.
The potential for the presence of both thallium and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in HRM biosolids is problematic for the dairy industry in particular as both of these substances are lipophilic. PBDEs present an additional concern given the fact they have the ability to cross the placental barrier and contaminate newborn children.
The land application of biosolids is an issue of immediate concern to the public. The Canadian Infectious Disease Society (C.I.D.S.) has called for a moratorium on the spreading biosolids across Canada until further studies were carried out to determine if the process was safe. Dr. Mark Miller, president of C.I.D.S. says:
"C.I.D.S. remains steadfast that the disposal of all bio-materials be done in a safe and efficient manner, and that studies be taken to insure that current disposal/spreading techniques are safe for
the human population. The fact that certain practices 'have always been done like this,' does not mean that they are necessarily safe in the present-day context.”
A growing number of scientists are questioning the rationale of land application of biosolids. Ellen Harrison, director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute, offers the following opinion:
“Agricultural land is too important to take the chance of spreading sewage biosolids from the city. There are just too many unknowns. Are we prepared to have contaminants spread on our soils that will basically be there forever? Often times, we just don’t know what the risks are.”
How does the consumer differentiate between food that is grown on land treated with biosolids and food that is not? In Nova Scotia, there is no means to identify which foods have been exposed to biosolids. Consumers have the right to know which foods are the resultant of land applied biosolids ,such foods should be labelled accordingly.
Nova Scotia's agricultural economy depends on the public perception that foods produced here are pure and grown on land that is free from contaminants that are commonly used in industrialized urban areas. If we allow the practice of the disposal of biosolids on agricultural
land to continue consumer confidence will be severely undermined. For the sake of public health, as well as that of our agricultural economy, we must not allow farmland to be polluted with a “witch's brew,” of unidentified materials. A healthy and prosperous farm community is of the utmost importance to all Nova Scotians.
Fred F. Blois
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Chronicle Herald
Halifax Nova Scotia
May 22, 2008
Fertile ground
Since Mayor Kelly has such a superior and inexpensive fertilizer made from HRM sewage, I assume that it will be used on all public land in HRM including Point Pleasant Park, the Commons, and the Public Gardens. Perhaps it should be the only approved fertilizer for private lawns and gardens in HRM.
Tourism could promote a sewage tour: 1) Sewage plant in downtown Halifax, 2) Biosolids plant near airport 3) Old-fashioned picnic sitting on the grass on Citadel Hill.
You cannot beat cheap fertilizer, which is "safe for use on any plant."
Lloyd Burrows, Beaver Bank
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Search/1057412.html
Nova Scotia had a disasterous sludge experience when Halifax sludge was trucked out to Inglewood Farms in Lower Truro a few years back. The province came up with some sludge rules, but these regulations are seen as inadequate to manage the material. For the past year, stakeholders have been meeting to review Nova Scotia sludge biosolids issues and make recommendations for better regulatory policies.
Nothing has changed.
The Province of Nova Scotia intended to require that Halifax sludge, treated through N-Viro technology, be certified as in compliance with the Fertilizer Act by requiring a 'letter of no objection' from the federal Fertilizer Section of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The sludge material from N-Viro is sewage sludge mixed with cement kiln dust from Lafarge Brookfield. Unfortunately Lafarge Brookfield burns used oil and this leaves thallium and other toxic metals in their cement kiln dust.
The N-Viro sludge mix has been in storage through the winter.
Suddenly on Friday before the long weekend, the sewage sludge was sold to farmers even though there is no letter from the Federal regulator.
Even though stakeholders say that the Nova Scotia sewage biosolids are inadequate to protect farming, the environment and public health - that is all that is regulating this sludge. Indeed, since N-Viro and the province and the CFIA all refuse to provide testing results or a fertilizer label: no one knows what is in this stuff. Even Lafarge Brookfield refuses to send a Material Safety Data Sheet for their cement kiln dust.
Halifax; sewage sludge is once again on the way to farmland.
Buyer beware.
..............................................................
Nova Scotia Food Land - No Place For Sludge Toxins
Commentary - Fred Blois - May 22, 2008
It is important to consider that current waste water treatment plant technology was not designed to remove many of the nutrients, estrogenic compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products present in waste water. Therefore, current technologies may be creating risks of unknown magnitude for public health, risks that could last for generations given the fact that many of the components found in biosolids are bioaccumulative and persistent.
This considered, the public is concerned that comprehensive testing is not required on the biosolids that are now being and are about to be land applied in Nova Scotia. Present regulations do not adequately address the need to test for the drugs, chemicals, a number of toxic heavy metals, and pathogens that are contained in many biosolids, which can pose serious detrimental environmental and public health threats. Furthermore, present regulations do not consider the potential synergistic and lipophilic effects of multiple contaminants that may be contained in the biosolids. Chlorine, for example, can combine with natural organic material found in dirt and soils to create a variety of carcinogenic chlorinated hydrocarbons, including toxins like chloroform and trihalomethanes. The absence of scientific evidence requiring biosolid testing does not mean that there is no risk involved in the practice of land applying biosolids, instead it shows that there is not enough evidence to deem it a safe practice.
The Halifax Regional Municipality has selected a method that combines an equal amount of sewage sludge and cement kiln dust in a patented process to create a biosolid which is then destined for disposal on agricultural land.
Independent testing of land applied biosolids created by Inglewood Farms and having a significant component of HRM sewage sludge in 2004 indicated some of the highest levels of
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardents) ever recorded in the world in addition to a long list of additional contaminants’.
.
Cement Kiln Dust is an industrial waste in the cement industry and as such it has the potential to be contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins. Samples of CKD sourced from Lafarge’s Pleasant Valley cement plant by Department of Environment and Labour (DOEL) staff in 2007, and tested by Maxxam Analytics, recorded the presence of 21 heavy metals in these samples. Of particular concern in these samples is the heavy metal Thallium, which was recorded at a level of 2.3 parts per million. This level exceeds the accepted parameters for contaminated soil in landfills, and yet it is a component of biosolids that are being applied to agricultural land and subsequently becoming part of our food chain. Thallium has recently been identified in milk which was the resultant of agricultural land contaminated by sewage sludge in Georgia.
The potential for the presence of both thallium and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in HRM biosolids is problematic for the dairy industry in particular as both of these substances are lipophilic. PBDEs present an additional concern given the fact they have the ability to cross the placental barrier and contaminate newborn children.
The land application of biosolids is an issue of immediate concern to the public. The Canadian Infectious Disease Society (C.I.D.S.) has called for a moratorium on the spreading biosolids across Canada until further studies were carried out to determine if the process was safe. Dr. Mark Miller, president of C.I.D.S. says:
"C.I.D.S. remains steadfast that the disposal of all bio-materials be done in a safe and efficient manner, and that studies be taken to insure that current disposal/spreading techniques are safe for
the human population. The fact that certain practices 'have always been done like this,' does not mean that they are necessarily safe in the present-day context.”
A growing number of scientists are questioning the rationale of land application of biosolids. Ellen Harrison, director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute, offers the following opinion:
“Agricultural land is too important to take the chance of spreading sewage biosolids from the city. There are just too many unknowns. Are we prepared to have contaminants spread on our soils that will basically be there forever? Often times, we just don’t know what the risks are.”
How does the consumer differentiate between food that is grown on land treated with biosolids and food that is not? In Nova Scotia, there is no means to identify which foods have been exposed to biosolids. Consumers have the right to know which foods are the resultant of land applied biosolids ,such foods should be labelled accordingly.
Nova Scotia's agricultural economy depends on the public perception that foods produced here are pure and grown on land that is free from contaminants that are commonly used in industrialized urban areas. If we allow the practice of the disposal of biosolids on agricultural
land to continue consumer confidence will be severely undermined. For the sake of public health, as well as that of our agricultural economy, we must not allow farmland to be polluted with a “witch's brew,” of unidentified materials. A healthy and prosperous farm community is of the utmost importance to all Nova Scotians.
Fred F. Blois
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Chronicle Herald
Halifax Nova Scotia
May 22, 2008
Fertile ground
Since Mayor Kelly has such a superior and inexpensive fertilizer made from HRM sewage, I assume that it will be used on all public land in HRM including Point Pleasant Park, the Commons, and the Public Gardens. Perhaps it should be the only approved fertilizer for private lawns and gardens in HRM.
Tourism could promote a sewage tour: 1) Sewage plant in downtown Halifax, 2) Biosolids plant near airport 3) Old-fashioned picnic sitting on the grass on Citadel Hill.
You cannot beat cheap fertilizer, which is "safe for use on any plant."
Lloyd Burrows, Beaver Bank
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Search/1057412.html
posted by Sludge at 2:44 PM
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