May be you have been told that SLUDGE is Safe and Organic.May be you have beleived that no toxic heavy metals and company are there to contaminate your garden after applying sludge...may be ...may be yes or may be no.Here are the latest news in case you skipped it while tending to youer farm or garden chores.Share it with a friend and be AWARE:I qoute OCA (organic consumer association) down below article copied for easy reference:

"Outrage in San Francisco: City Gives Residents 'Organic' Compost Containing Toxic Sewage Sludge

Action Alert

Tell San Francisco's Mayor and City Officials to Stop Spreading Sewage Sludge Under the Guise of Organic Fertilizer

Toxic sludge is good for you?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, along with municipal governments across the US, want farmers, school, and backyard gardeners to grow their veggies using toxic sludge, spreading the outrageous lie that municipal wastewater sewage plants can somehow magically transform hazardous materials into "organic fertilizer."

Toxic sludge is poison.

Scientific evidence has confirmed that municipal sewage sludge contains hundreds of dangerous pathogens, toxic heavy metals, flame-retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals coming from residential drains, storm water runoff, hospitals, and industrial plants.

Sewage sludge contains everything the sewage treatment plant was able to remove from the sewage - plus every new chemical and pathogen formed in the mad synergy of this chemical soup, including virulent, antibiotic-resistant bacteria created through horizontal gene transfer.

San Francisco public officials have helped the toxic sludge industry score a major victory in the Bay Area, where they've been able to convince hundreds of regional (non-organic) farmers to spread the hazardous material on farm land and pasture, and have actually been able to get city residents to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic sludge and spread it over their backyard and community gardens.

San Francisco is a strategic battleground to stop the sludge industry from poisoning more farms and communities. In 1998 the organic community rose up and banned the use of sewage sludge in organic farming. Now it's time to ban its use on farms, gardens, lawns, and land in general.

Sewage sludge is a form of hazardous waste and needs to be contained and isolated as such.

California proposition 65 (P65) requires the listing of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Chemicals known to the SFPUC that are in San Francisco sewage sludge that are also found on the California P65 list include:

Mercury - Molybdenum - Cobalt - Antimony Chromium - Dibenzofurans - Naphthalene - 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (Dbcp) - Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate (Dehp) - Tcdd Equivalents (Dioxins) Such As Octachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxins (Ocdd)

Stop Sludge!

Click Here to Sign Our Petition

Click here to download OCA's Sludge Leaflet (PDF)

Organizations that have signed onto the letter asking Mayor Newsom to stop spreading toxic sludge on the city include:

Organic Consumers Association - Consumers Union - Arc Ecology - California Communities Against Toxics - California Food & Justice Coalition - Center for Environmental Health - Center for Food Safety - Center for Health, Environment & Justice - Earth Share California - East Bay Green Tours - Ecology Center - Food First (Institute for Food and Development Policy) - GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) - Green Cafe Network - Help for Sewage Victims - Lessing/Sears Community Garden - Local Harvest - MOMAS (Mothers of Marin Against the Spray) - North Berkeley Harvest - People's Grocery -  Planting Justice - Safe Food and Fertilizer - San Francisco Green Party - Teamsters Union - United Sludge -Free Alliance

SLUDGE Info

• Sludge News
• Sewage Sludge Action Network
• Sewage Sludge Victims
• Sludge Facts
• United Sludge Free Alliance
• Reading a Fertilizer Label

Sustainable Solutions

Outrage in San Francisco: City Gives Residents 'Organic' Compost Containing Toxic Sewage Sludge

Action Alert

Tell San Francisco's Mayor and City Officials to Stop Spreading Sewage Sludge Under the Guise of Organic Fertilizer

Toxic sludge is good for you?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, along with municipal governments across the US, want farmers, school, and backyard gardeners to grow their veggies using toxic sludge, spreading the outrageous lie that municipal wastewater sewage plants can somehow magically transform hazardous materials into "organic fertilizer."

Toxic sludge is poison.

Scientific evidence has confirmed that municipal sewage sludge contains hundreds of dangerous pathogens, toxic heavy metals, flame-retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals coming from residential drains, storm water runoff, hospitals, and industrial plants.

Sewage sludge contains everything the sewage treatment plant was able to remove from the sewage - plus every new chemical and pathogen formed in the mad synergy of this chemical soup, including virulent, antibiotic-resistant bacteria created through horizontal gene transfer.

San Francisco public officials have helped the toxic sludge industry score a major victory in the Bay Area, where they've been able to convince hundreds of regional (non-organic) farmers to spread the hazardous material on farm land and pasture, and have actually been able to get city residents to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic sludge and spread it over their backyard and community gardens.

San Francisco is a strategic battleground to stop the sludge industry from poisoning more farms and communities. In 1998 the organic community rose up and banned the use of sewage sludge in organic farming. Now it's time to ban its use on farms, gardens, lawns, and land in general.

Sewage sludge is a form of hazardous waste and needs to be contained and isolated as such.

California proposition 65 (P65) requires the listing of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Chemicals known to the SFPUC that are in San Francisco sewage sludge that are also found on the California P65 list include:

Mercury - Molybdenum - Cobalt - Antimony Chromium - Dibenzofurans - Naphthalene - 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (Dbcp) - Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate (Dehp) - Tcdd Equivalents (Dioxins) Such As Octachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxins (Ocdd)

Stop Sludge!

Click Here to Sign Our Petition

Click here to download OCA's Sludge Leaflet (PDF)

Organizations that have signed onto the letter asking Mayor Newsom to stop spreading toxic sludge on the city include:

Organic Consumers Association - Consumers Union - Arc Ecology - California Communities Against Toxics - California Food & Justice Coalition - Center for Environmental Health - Center for Food Safety - Center for Health, Environment & Justice - Earth Share California - East Bay Green Tours - Ecology Center - Food First (Institute for Food and Development Policy) - GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) - Green Cafe Network - Help for Sewage Victims - Lessing/Sears Community Garden - Local Harvest - MOMAS (Mothers of Marin Against the Spray) - North Berkeley Harvest - People’s Grocery - Pesticide Watch - Planting Justice - Safe Food and Fertilizer - San Francisco Green Party - Teamsters Union - United Sludge -Free Alliance

SLUDGE Info

• Sludge News
• Sewage Sludge Action Network
• Sewage Sludge Victims
• Sludge Facts
• United Sludge Free Alliance
• Reading a Fertilizer Label

Sustainable Solutions ".Qoute!

Unqoute, knowledge is power and it may save lives if you head it by  acting on it ,and  verify and prove it as  true.I did.You may check out the  EU regulations on sludge just in case you are not convinced yet.

Bon appetite!

The Problem:

The soil is sandy and infested with nematodes in some areas of S.Florida .To solve this dilemma some find solutions in using compost that is derived from SLUDGE ( treated human sewage).Even some rush to buy organic fertilizers that use sludge in the form of pebbles to grow ORGANIC VEGGIES..During the clinton administration,the EPA designated sludge derived fertilizers and compost to be used only on the LAWNS.Standards were changed after that and now sludge is labelled as organic and safe for veggies.

Still,I do not use it in my organic vegetable  garden .Instead, I make my own soil and compost or I draw it from a trusted local farmer source.I learned the hard way.In the past:There were news about recalls of some contaminated vegetables .There were news about rocket fuel in Romaine Lettuce and Milk etc.With no health insurance, I better be safe than sorry.

I respect what others might think or choose ,but here I am talking about my OWN choices and why I consider NOT to use compost or organic fertilizers that are derived from SLUDGE.Traces of the following hazardous pollutants were traced to this man made compost:

1-Heavy metals :Lead,cadmium,uranium,mercury.

2-PCB and other manufacturing and industrial chemicals ,flushed down the drain.

3-Pharmaceuticals like prozac and other medications , flushed down the drain.

The References:

There are numerous studies , articles and books which were published that found evidence of harm done to the body especially to the endocrine system from such heavy metals traced to sludge.

Recently an article in Mother Jones traced lead , a heavy metal found at the new White House Organic garden to fertilizers derived from sludge .

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009/06/did-sludge-lace-obamas-veggie-garden-lead

Recently also we witnessed a protest and jeers from environmental groups concerning the new shift from using new tests on pesticides to determine their influence on the endocrine system .Old tests were recommended instead.

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/10/15/15greenwire-omb-endocrine-directive-draws-industry-cheers-87247.html

http://www.olympus.net/community/oec/sldgbl.html

Books ref.:

1-Hazardous Waste. By: Keith McGowan.ISBN:1-56006-699-7"Chapter 1-Tha Hazardous Wate Problem"

2-Garbage and recycling.ISBN:0-7377-3651-8"Chapter 7-Sewage Sludge Recycling Poses a Threat to Human Health."

Periodicals:

Mother Jones-June -2009 issue.

 The solution:

Refrain from using compost derived from sludge.

When in doubt about the source of your soil, make your own.Consult with a local gardener/ urban farmer near you .

Use composted horse- or home raised chicken -manure instead of sludge.An alternative.

Ask about what is in your soil.make sure you know the source well.

Check  the soil out: Organic soil shoild not smell foul.Should not contain PCB ,PLASTIC TRASH,HEAVY METALS,OTHER PHARMACEUTICAL OR INDUSTRIAL  TRASH.

I recommend non-invasive environmental methods to extract heavy metals from the soil in case contamination is found.One of the methods I use is :PHYTOREMEDIATION.

This word is derived from GREEK.Phyto means :plants,Remedia means:extract.Plants are used since ancient times to extract heavy metals and pollutants from the soil.The process is slow,it takes years but it is environmentally friendly.For example: I am a fan of SUNFLOWER.The native Americans used it to purify the soil.Modern science found out that sunflower draws LEAD out from the ground.

Have a SAFE SOIL!