VIRGINIA - CULPEPER - Lori Handshy Page 1 of 6
The Story of Someone That Does Not Exist
VICTIM SUFFERS SEVERE HEADACHES, CONSTANT COUGH, NAGGING FATIGUE, NAUSEA, SEVERE DIARRHEA,
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS INCLUDING CHOKING INABILITY TO BREATH.
STATE AND FEDERAL HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY "NO DOCUMENTED CASES OF ILLNESS (FROM SLUDGE)" ...
YOUR SYMPTOMS ARE "PSYCHOSOMATIC.
The Story of Someone That Does Not Exist
This is the story of someone that does not exist, or is told that they do not exist You see, lam one of the growing
number of victims of land applied sewage sludge. We have all seen articles on this "soil amendment" in the papers
recently. The EPA and the Health Department assure us that it Is perfectly safe for us to live with and have on our
food. 1 am (lucidly) living proofs that, yes, there are consequences to forced exposure to sewage sludge.
It all started back in the spring of 1999. My husband and I were trailering our horses backfrom our friend's house in
Culpeper, Virginia. Our friend was telling us that a farm down the road a ,.,..• few miles had applied sewage sludge
on the grazing fields. This sludge was just dumped out and left there. On the fence by the gate was a sign stating the
company name and their phone number. Although I was not too concerned since, after all, it was at least 5 miles up the
road, my husband was quite uneasy. He told me that it was not the "poop" he was worried about, but the host of other
toxins and contaminants that he was worried about, namely the heavy metals. The area that we lived in was very wet,
blackjack soil. It was swampy almost year around. My husband was worried about the water systems, since it flooded
frequently around the area. I remember driving home that night saying "you don't think any of our neighbors would be
dumb enough to do that, do you?* and he replied wtth "I dont think so. but I would hope not". I shrugged it off as the
majority of people do.
Life went on as usual and basically I thought nothing more of it. Our farm was 20 acres with a 40 acre narrow and long
tract of 600 yards separating us from the nearest working farm next door. This farm consists of approximately 400+
acres and was on the northern side of our farm. I had permission to ride on the 40-acre tract and took almost daily
walks there with my pony and dog. Come Jury, my husband told me that he had seen "the trucks" in the neighbor's
cattle field approximately 1/3 of a mile from our house, dumping sludge very early In the morning. In the evenings,
there was an odor, however unpleasant but since this field was one of the furthest from our farm, it was only
overpowering at night and in the misty mornings and life went on.
I made my first phone call to the Zoning Committee in Culpeper. I wanted to know why I was not notified of this, since I
am the only home to the left and directly downwind of the property (with an open field separating us). I was told that
since I was not directly adjacent to the property, that I did not have the be informed of the sludging and that I was an
"oversight". My pleas not to apply any closer to my property fell on deaf ears.
I then called the next in line that I could think of, the County Health Department to complain. Desiree Lopasic came out
to "inspect" the sight Copies of this were sent to the VA State Department of Hearth (Kal Sawyer), Claybome Taylor
(spreader), Aubrey Rozell (zoning) and Bio Gro (now Synagro). The "inspection" consisted of a visual overview by Ms.
Lopasic that visually observed "buffers" (flags), noted the pH, Temperature and "normal' odor.
All summer, I had nagging, painful headaches. Not a normal headache, but a typo that I have never experienced
before. The pain was constant, with no amount of Tylenol helping it 1 can only tolerate children's Tylenol, so that Is
what I tried to take to stop the pain. I began to feel like not doing much of anything at all. My head constantly hurt, but I
did begin to make a connection when the headaches would stop if we went to eat in Fredricksburg or take the dog to
training in King George. I started to develop a dry cough. Constant, dry, nagging cough. The pony developed the
same type of cough, too.
We read some Information on the Internet about sludge. It did not sound like good stuff, but so far, the connection
between my constant headaches and nagging fatigue was not drawn. We brought some of the information down to the
neighbor, who informed us that the fanner renting her fields brought her an application to sign for "cheap fertilizer*.
She did not read n, had no Idea of what it was, just signed the approval. She let Scott pick up a couple of "samples" of
the
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