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AAKGNHARRis For e roronto star © ‘bles. He thinks it could be bad for Farmer Harry Buurmaisays sludge, shownhere in pellet form on a neighbour‘s farm in Watford, Ont., is safe and no biosolids should be sent to landfill. business. "IfThadavegetable stand, I i wouldn‘t be selling it because of the qbasriro 4n Tu4Ly I5]0 3 ; ie image." ‘ miclrobiologist, has found that the (metals, ‘They are a concern because . watersheds. _ ) / | | \a| Sewage bylaws and public educaâ€" People recoil zilt the _thought of eatâ€" toxicity of such chemicals accumuâ€" .. their concentrations are highly variâ€". Evidence that such contéifimafitgg tion on proper use and disposal of â€" ingfood grown m.the1:rownfeces, reâ€" lates over time. Lewis lost his job.. able, depending on the treatment â€" can survive in the water supply sur~ |â€" medicationsiare reducing the potenâ€" .. gardless of how it mlght have been with the US. Environmental Protecâ€" â€"plant and their effects are so longâ€". faced in a fiveâ€"month investigation || tial risk from medications. treated. That perception helps fuel tion Agency in 2002 for blowing the . term, says McBride, who grew up on | released by the Associated Press this . "People aren‘t flushing pills down . the division within the‘ agricultural (whistle on the agency‘s promotion of . a farm near Goderich. | year, whichfound a long list of mediâ€" . the toilet as much," Smith says. community on the merits of sludge. usludge. Particulatly worrisome are zinc, . cations, including antibiotics, antiâ€" |â€" Asto the standards the province has While some farmers like Buurma «@ Pathogens: Salmonella, E. coliand . _copper, cadmium and molybdenum. | convulsants, mood stabilizers and . set,she says: "We‘re still comfortable . can‘t get enough of the stuff, others other, diseaseâ€"causing microorganâ€".._â€" all of which are currently testedâ€" _ sex hormones, present in the waterâ€" â€" with the numbers and the wait times â€" arereluctantbecauseof publicoppoâ€" wisms couldreproduce to unsafe levels .â€" because each can affect plant, human... sheds and drinking water of 24 major .. weset. We think they‘re right." sition and concerns about safety and in sludge. The EPA has admitted . or animalhealth. urban.centres. Wevyhnak@thestar.ca ability. e (there is no scientific consensus on its .e Pharmaceuticals and personal. . While pharmacenticalsappeared in |â€" The Ecological Farmers Associaâ€" safety. A study by the University of . care products (PPCPs): Cornell . only tiny amounts, the presence of smm o mc l TCl » teaaf Onta:l'io recenflypasse}iaresâ€" ©(Ottawa confirmed that many pathoâ€" _ University: researchers have conâ€" |, many, drugs heightened worries SOILED LAND olution calling for a moratorium on s «gens and parasites can, in fact, surâ€" . cluded that significant amounts of about the consequences for human . spreading sludge and for more teâ€" vive in solid waste after the sewage . toxic chemicals from detergents, | health. f Fourâ€"part series on the use of sewâ€" search to determine its lpng»tenn efâ€" treatment process. personalâ€"care products and medicaâ€" â€"_ A recent study in Ontario that apâ€" age sludge as fertilizer fects. The organization is concerned The Canadian Infectious Diseases â€" tions can end up in sewage sludge. peared in the Water Quality Reâ€" that harmful chemicals and ‘pafl_qo- »Society, a nonâ€"profit organization of _ "What is the longâ€"term effect on â€" search Journal of Canada produced Yesterday: Do we know enough? gens in biosolids are contaminating i medical and scientific professionals, â€" populations? We don‘t really know," | . similar results; traces of drugs in waâ€" Today: Some farmers love it but the food chain. 3 («ds among those that have called for a . says microbiologist Anthony Hay of . ter from 15 treatment plants. is it safe? While a number of farmers believe ; moratortum on spreading sludge for . Cornell. 4 Tomorrow: What happens when sludge has made their livestock ill, «that reason. The society is now part _ When people consume medication, . THE MINISTRY!‘S Smith acknow]~ things go wrong? the evidence is largely ancedotal. But of the Association of Medical Microâ€" _ much of it is excreted and enters the. . edges that the composition of biosoâ€" Tuesday: Food firms reject it and some argue the uncertainty is ~«‘biology and Infectious Disease Cana~ . sewage stream. Sludge opponents arâ€"|| lids has changed over the years, but other options enough to raise questions about its ‘da. gue that when biosolids are spread . overall "they are a lot cleaner now use. f wi«e Metals: The ministry tests for 11. onland, thosedrugs canendup inthe _ than 10 or 15 years ago." â€" Fred Price used biosolids on his farm near Hanover more than 10 { years ago. After feeding his 100 head of beef cattle hay grown on sludge= ; treated land, only half the usual | number of cows became pregnant, ‘ $ he says. j *‘ amanpmiip on iiirret. ns ts vamers 779 o hoh en t ie y iA yenp mal: mat "You couldn‘t find anything wrong ‘ with them but once we quit spreadâ€" f | THEIRHOME _ â€" 3 ONTARIANS WHO BLAME SLUDGE FOR HEALTHIPROBLEMS ing sludge and once they went onto ‘ pasture in the spring, they were | â€" breeding again." e Halton health department in= Virginia Kostiuk, Castleton: authorities but there was nothing to blame. Price suspects the cause was horâ€" igated complaints by the Eaâ€" She had an hour‘s warning before _ concrete linking the family‘s health mones found in birth control drugs and other families who lived sludge was sprayed on a neighâ€" problems with biosolids. Ralph Erickson, Thamesville: finding their way into the land the lagoon but according to bour‘s frelds, "30 to 50 feet in the The two years his neighbour was through the sludge. He says three ical officer of health Dr. Bob air" and as close as 50 metres Enid Lipsett, Unionville: storing and spreading sludge were other farmers experienced similar p 1l, no conclusions could be from her front door. Within an Her granddaughter Madison, now _ "the worst. . . we ever had." problems. m because of the smallintim= hour, her eyes were watering from .. 7, got sick with severe diarrhea; Clouds of dust would rise 15 meâ€" His farm is now sludgeâ€"free. "I sure 4 af people involved and their the acrid smell, her throat was nausea, breathing difficulties and tres in the air and drift over his don‘t want it any more. I‘m always ‘dresponses. (Of 14 surveyed, sore, herskin itchy and she had rashes during several visits to Lipâ€"...property near Chatham, making lookingfor cheaper ways to get fertilâ€" ‘s linked their health problems to trouble breathing. Her husband sett‘s weekend home in the counâ€" his family feel ill, sore and itchy, he izer but it ended up costing a lot." t | s cacility.) and 4â€"yearâ€"old son had similar try in 2001, Sewage sludge from recalls a few years later. The envi~ Donald Good is an Ottawa lawyer 1' wever, subsequent reports by symptoms. There have been no Toronto had been stockpiled then ronment ministry "tried to say it who has spentyears warningfarmers ‘% 1ealth department warned of sludge applications around their spread less than 300 metres from _ was safe," Erickson says. "I don‘t about the inherent risk of using maâ€" I intial risks to soil, water, food home, northeast of Cobourg, since _ their Warkworth property over the .. believe the government at all | terial "contaminated. with human ‘ human health if sludge is not then probably because "everyone three months she became ill. The know how my wife and kids felt." diseases." | ed and handled properly. was so angry," she says. She comâ€" . _ medical:officer of health, Dr. Alex The neighbour toldhim to."get Never adopt a practice that unâ€" sal told the Star he couldnot plained to the health and environâ€" Hukowich, investigated their comâ€" _ used to it." Erickson hasn‘t spoken dermines the confidence of consumâ€" uss the Eagles‘ case because of ment ministries and local health plaints and concluded sludge was to him since. ers in the safety of food you produce," lawsuit. he advises farmers. "The application | inak@thestarca of sewage sludge to farmland does â€"4 y just that." C) s