What YOU Can Do For Sludge Free Food, Water and Communities!
YOUR common sense recognizes that toxic chemicals, viruses, pharmaceuticals and all the contamination poured down the drain do not “magically” disappear at the waste waster treatment plants.
YOUR common sense understands that this waste enters our food, water and communities as sewage sludge and “biosolids” sold as “fertilizer”.
Now YOU must take ACTION to make your health and safety important!
The ‘BS’ of Biosolids & Sewage Sludge Fertilizers and Liquids
Just Say “NO!” To:
- Skewed information by industry and bureaucracy: ignores the negative impact on food, water, animals crops, landscapes and the land
- Science Is Not Political: reported risks, dangers & scientific studies show bureaucracies cozy relationship with the sludge/waste industry does not protect your safety
- Neighborhood & Community: sewage sludge spread near homes effects health and safety of the community and property value with the smelly, toxic run-off
- Bagged “Fertilizer”: home gardens, playgrounds, schools, parks and golf courses all can legally be “fertilized” with bagged sewage sludge “fertilizer” without your knowledge
- Farming Stewardship of The Land: skewed information promotes sewage sludge waste and liquid irrigation as a fertilizer, ignoring risks and dangers & disrespecting ‘Gods Gift’
- Influence By Corporate Interests In Our Democracy: new funding controls must make the EPA and state “environmental/farming regulators” accountable and break the cycle of using our farmlands and communities as a dumping group for our modern, toxic waste
We Encourage You To:
- Sign-up for our emails to educate with info & actions; donate to support our work.
- Get involvement in groups that protect food, water, health & your children.
- Form a group in your community to watchdog the issues that matter to you.
- Help us build a listing of food companies who do not purchase foods grown in or irrigated with sewage sludge wastes.
- Investigate and encourage funding of alternative energy uses for sewage sludge – the studies are out there to make it happen.
Organizing Your Sludge Fighting Group
Groups like United Sludge-Free Alliance are great for providing you with resources and information, but there is also a real value in forming a NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) group in your own community. You know your local community, landscape and networking opportunities. If you want this issue to change, you must get involved – no bureaucracy or big business will do what is best for you. Create a name that seems to portray the most pressing concerns in your area and start your group. Most important – please contact us at USFA! Our goal is to network people nationally. In this way, we can stay connected and send folks to you!
- Instead of the expense of a web site, refer folks to ours – www.usludgefree.org – for lots of info and updates. The more ‘hits’ we have, the farther up the listing we move when some one ‘Googles’ the sludge subject.
- To save on expenses and still have internet access to your personal community fight, start a Facebook site or a blog. It’s free! Surly there is some kid in your community who would love the opportunity to create the site and be your ‘face-master’. And, it’s free!
- Always have a sign-up sheet to collect phone numbers and email addresses at your meetings. If folks have an email address, it does not cost a thing to update everyone, gather people quickly and it helps build your base.
- Set out a ‘donation’ can at every gathering for folks to drop in a few bucks. As time goes on, you may have less people attending gatherings and this will help with expenses while interest is high.
- If you photocopy flyers and information for meetings, copy in black-and-white. It’s cheaper than color copies and you still get the info out. If you want some papers to be eye-catching, print them on color paper to save money. Can you get printing donations from local businesses?
- Always include some contact number on at least one paper so people can contact you. The networking is important and some folks do not have email, so a phone number is important.
- Feel free to print our USFA info and article suggestions for your gatherings but also create flyers specific to your local issue, i.e. locations, tonnage, state and county laws, etc. Good luck! We hope these suggestions are helpful. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.
United Sludge-Free Alliance’s Policy Recommendations
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- Remove the enforcement and regulatory divisions of all federal and state agencies from the political appointed administrative division. Remove inspector’s “discretionary” option in reporting violations – inspector/regulators must be held responsible for reporting violations. Stop the “partnership” between the regulatory agencies and the industries they are meant to regulate.
- Remove the enforcement and regulatory divisions of all federal and state agencies from the political appointed administrative division. Remove inspector’s “discretionary” option in reporting violations – inspector/regulators must be held responsible for reporting violations. Stop the “partnership” between the regulatory agencies and the industries they are meant to regulate.
- Strengthen the ability of local citizens and elected officials to determine their own community control of issues, such as sewage sludge disposal. Every citizen deserves the ability to have a democratic input of their health and safety impact.
- Developing testing procedures for pharmaceuticals, personal care products, home care products and other items constantly found in TNSSS as emerging contaminants. Any ‘organic compounds’ found in sludge that benefit crops, are easily dismissed upon considering the worrisome compounds that negatively impacting human health, water quality, and the environment. Regardless of the superficial concern – and agreed potential dangers of land application of sewage sludge – the EPA and sludge industry have made no progress in developing the needed testing procedures.
- Institute additional national protective measures, especially in relation to surface waters. None of the current options are without negative factors. As we transition from land application of sewage sludge to instituting alternative uses for sludge, we must create regulations that are safer and stricter.
- Sewage sludge, should be more difficult to land apply by:
- Increasing the monitoring of sludge at the waste water treatment plant
- Restrict the quantity of sludge that can be applied
- Increase the setback regulation from water, wells and neighbors
- Continually test all wells and waterways located near fields that are sludged
- Require incorporation of sludge into the soil instead of spraying and ‘top dressing’
- Actively collect health impact data. This top priority of the National Research Council Report in 2002 has been totally ignored. Our elected officials must step up to the responsibility of tracking the real health impacts to citizens without any further delay. The data collection instrument developed by epidemiologists at University of North Carolina is available for free-of-charge.
- Funding and tax incentives for sewage sludge as an alternative fuel source must be supported nationally. Although there are new disposal options, the costs of those options are still too high to make them viable alternatives for many municipalities.
- Change the consumer cycle. Instead of introducing products, such as triclosan, and then learning about its toxicity after it’s already permeated our homes and the environment, we need to be subjecting all potential waste products to testing BEFORE they become pervasive.
