WARKWORTH, ONTARIO, CANADA –
NOV. 2007 – FEB. 2008 SLUDGE VICTIMS SUFFER CONTAMINATED WELL WATER, CHRONIC DIARRHEA, LUNG
PROBLEMS, HEADACHES, FREQUENT BOUTS OF PNEUMONIA AND ABNORMALLY HIGH LEVELS OF TOXIC
METALS IN THEIR BLOOD
http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=69122
Biosolids taint well water in Ontario community << BACK
Feb. 4, 2008 WARKWORTH, ONTARIO — Families here who have installed an ultraviolet (UV) water treatment
system to purify well water tainted by the spreading of human biosolids on nearby agricultural lands, have been told by
their district health unit that their water still is unsafe to drink, according to a February 1 Northumberland Today article.
Some of the homeowners who live near the agricultural lands and rely on well water said in the article that samples from
their wells show elevated levels of coliform and E. coli bacteria.
Their blood tests showed elevated levels of lead, barium, sulfur, potassium and sodium. They reported a number of
illnesses, from diarrhea and respiratory distress to watering eyes and headaches.
To help combat the problems and to treat their water, two families, the Cookes and the Donaldsons, installed UV
treatment systems.
Lilas Donaldson said in the article that the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit tested the treated water
and told them their water was still unsafe for consumption and not to drink it.
http://www.eastnorthumberland.com/article.php?id=1748
November 14, 2007
Health study urged on biosolids (excerpts from news article)
by Paul Dalby
The Independent
“A leading toxicologist has called for an urgent study on the potential health hazards posed by biosolids – or human
sewage sludge – that is being spread on farming fields in Northumberland County. “
“The biosolids, used as a free fertilizer, come from the Cobourg Water and Waste Treatment plant.
As well as containing human excreta, the sludge can also contain traces of household chemicals, detergents from
washing machines, heavy metals from industry, synthetic hormones from birth control pills, and dioxins, a group of
compounds that have been linked to cancer.”
““It’s a stew and you cannot possibly know from one day to the next exactly what’s in that stew,” said Dr.
Anne Mildon. “It all depends on what comes down the pipe to the sewage plant.”
About 120,000 tonnes of sewage biosolids are spread on 6,000 acres of Ontario farmland each year,
according to the Ministry of the Environment.
“But Dr. Mildon, of Toronto, is the first to call for an official health study of the practice and its potential
hazards. She is now treating four couples from the Warkworth area who all live next to fields where
biosolids have been spread in the past year. “
“They need to do a study of several people living close to fields being sprayed before the biosolids are put on, then re-
test them again afterwards to see what changes are in their health,” Dr. Mildon said.
“The four couples, all interviewed by The Independent, have experienced chronic diarrhea, lung
problems, headaches, frequent bouts of pneumonia and abnormally high levels of metals in their blood.”
“Without a scientific study, you cannot definitely link their health problems directly to the biosolids but I have a growing
sensation in my stomach that they are probably connected,” Dr. Mildon told The Independent.
“All four depended on well water on their properties, which until last year had a clean bill of health. Now
they are badly contaminated and the families have been told not to drink the water.
“The sludge from Cobourg has made us very, very ill,” said Linda Donaldson, 64, a retired RN and former
hospital administrator. “It is a nightmare.”
Last year she and her husband Roy were so sick they finally moved away from the land that her family has
settled on since the 1850s. Struck by chronic diarrhea, Roy had lost 20 pounds in weight in just weeks.
They now live in Campbellford.”
“It broke my heart to move out of the house but every time they sprayed biosolids on the fields across the road, we got
sick all over again,” Ms. Donaldson said. We just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Diane and Wayne Cooke may soon follow suit and sell the “dream home” they built for themselves 18 years ago on
their 68-acre farm. “I was never sick a day in my life, we were farmers all our life,” she said. “Now every time the
wind blows after they have sprayed, we get really sick. It feels like a nightmare.”