Indiana – Fort Wayne - heavy metals and fecal coliform in the Class A sludge “biosolids” being distributed
to public ?
“The samples in January and June failed the fecal coliform tests but passed for salmonella . . . “
“. . .biosolids in January . . . and June of 2006 had elevated levels of fecal coliform but were distributed anyway, and
that in May there were too many heavy metals in the soil . . . ‘
“sheet recommends putting it on vegetable gardens only once a year”
“The Waste Institute’s Harrison, however, said that industrial pre-treatment does not remove all pollutants – and
chemical pollutants are not removed at the sewage plant.
“It’s a tremendous overstatement to suggest (industrial pre-treatment) has taken care of all the industrial contaminants
in sludge,” Harrison said. “Why should I put industrial waste on my property?”
Posted on Sun, May. 20, 2007 http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/17255477.htm
Biosolid use nothing to ‘pooh-pooh’
City insists tested sludge safe; others cite ‘questionable risk’
By Dan Stockman
The Journal Gazette
Is that nutrient-rich fertilizer you’re spreading on your vegetable garden? Or is it toxic sludge, filled with pathogens,
heavy metals and industrial waste? It depends on who you ask.
There’s no question at one point the material distributed in the city of Fort Wayne’s biosolids program was toxic sludge,
regulated as a hazardous waste by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But in the more than three years it
takes for the sludge to go from the sewage treatment plant to your rose garden, officials say, it becomes a safe
additive that is great for plants.
Biosolids are free for the taking if you load them yourself, or for a nominal charge if you have them loaded for you.
“It’s the ultimate in recycling,” said Greg Meszaros, the city’s director of public works. “Lots of communities put it in the
landfill or incinerate it.”
“It” is the leftovers of the sewage treatment process. After the sewage is filtered and then run through settling tanks, it
goes to digester tanks, where friendly bacteria eat the organic material out of the water. Lest you think this is an
insignificant process, consider this: The bacteria are fed 27 tons of solids a day. When the bacteria are settled out, the
result is sludge – heavy with water and filled with all the nasty reasons it was flushed away in the first place.
Acres of The sludge is then moved to the city’s 55 spends three drying basins, where it years drying out and being
turned to increase exposure to oxygen. State and federal law then requires testing for heavy metals and pathogens to
ensure the material is safe before being distributed.
“We take our permit requirements very seriously,” Meszaros said. “That’s something we’re not just going to pooh-pooh.”
City officials say there is little risk from biosolids, but Ellen Z. Harrison, director of the Cornell Waste Management
Institute at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said she cautions people not to use the word “safe.”
“With pretty much everything, the question is, is it an acceptable risk?” Harrison said. “The question of acceptable risk
varies from person to person.”
So how does she view biosolids?
“My perspective on the use of sewage sludges in residential settings is there are a number of known and unknown
risks that would lead me to personally not use this material,” she said.
Failed tests, state scrutiny
Even following state standards can be challenging, officials said.
The city halted biosolid distribution for nearly a month after the state sent a notice saying the city had violated its
permit. Distribution was supposed to resume Friday, but test results did not arrive. The program is expected to resume
Monday if test results are available and indicate the material is safe.
Those trying to get biosolids Friday were turned away from the site, a sun-baked parking lot surrounded by piles of
brush and grass clippings with a mobile home for an office and two vehicle scales.
The state warning was based on the city’s annual report to the Indiana 30, which showed Department of Environmental
Management submitted Jan. biosolids in January that and June of 2006 had elevated levels of fecal coliform but were
distributed anyway, and that in May there were too many heavy metals in the soil. State officials also had questions
about dates and weights of materials that were unclear in the city’s annual report.
An April 26 response from the city says the failed heavy metals test was because of an improperly calibrated
instrument at the independent testing lab. The biosolids were blended with other soils to dilute the metals to safe levels
before distribution, officials said, though that wasn’t clear in the annual report. A second test with a properly calibrated
instrument showed the material was safe even before blending, Meszaros said.
The problems with the coliform came from confusion among employees regarding which tests had to be passed, he
said. The city’s yard waste plant is run by a private vendor, Fox Contractors.
Meszaros said federal regulations allow plants to test either for salmonella or fecal coliform. The samples in January
and June failed the fecal coliform tests but passed for salmonella, so employees thought the material was safe to
distribute. The city’s permit, however, is through IDEM, which requires only the fecal coliform test.
“We don’t believe there was any danger in any way to the public,” Meszaros said. “In fact, we don’t believe we violated
our permit.”
Because federal rules allow either test to be used, he said, the material met the safety requirements. He also cites
rules that allow one of three systems to be used to reduce pathogens; the city does all three – digestion, drying and
composting.
Still, to ensure there are no problems, the city temporarily halted the program in late April to ensure all employees are
trained and to give officials time to review processes to make sure they are adequate. Although the state requires only
an annual report – the notice of violation for the failed tests came more than a year after the first failure – the city will
voluntarily submit monthly reports for a year.
“We asked for a comprehensive review,” Meszaros said. “We want to make sure everyone is on the same wavelength.”
Don’t eat dirt, either
City officials insist the biosolids they distribute are safe to use as directed. But that doesn’t mean you should eat them.
“Use the same common sense that you would with any bagged material at Home Depot or Lowe’s,” said Wendy Barrott,
the city’s director of energy and environmental services. And common sense would tell you not to eat, say, composted
manure or even just plain dirt out of your yard. Biosolids are not much different from dirt, officials said, only they have
more organic matter. They also have all the bacteria and germs that dirt carries.
City officials say the biosolids are similar to topsoil but should really be used as a soil additive, rather than a soil
substitute. Because it is so rich in organic matter, they say, it really needs to be blended with top soil for use. The city’s
biosolid information sheet recommends putting it on vegetable gardens only once a year. It can also be used on lawns,
trees and shrubs.
Resident Julie Cox was planning on using biosolids to help fertilize a struggling flower bed but could not because the
program was halted. While the former chemistry teacher would use them in the front yard, she said, she wouldn’t use
them where her children play.
“Based on the geography of where we live, they probably don’t have much more heavy metals than what we have in
our regular soil,” Cox said of her 75-year-old home. “But I don’t think I would ever use it like, say, in a garden. And I
would not use it in the backyard or near the sandbox.”
Critics have said biosolids are just a public relations ploy to help cities get rid of toxic sludge, and cite controversies
within the EPA over using the material.
According to the 1995 book “Toxic Sludge is Good For You,” much of the work to spread the use of biosolids was done
by the Water Environment Federation, the new name of the Federation of Sewage Works Associations – the national
trade group for the sewage industry.
Barrott said that may be true, but that those pushing the use of biosolids are also pushing to ensure they are safe and
used properly, through the National Biosolids Partnership ( www.biosolids.org). She also said the EPA responded to
the controversy in the 1990s by performing a comprehensive risk assessment, studying everything from the rate plants
absorb toxics out of the soil to all the possible routes humans could be exposed to pollutants.
“All the numbers were set very carefully by the EPA,” Barrott said. “They want to make sure your processes (for
removing harmful materials) are really robust.”
In addition, officials said, there should be little or no pollutants in the biosolids because they are taken out of the waste
stream before they ever get into the sludge biosolids are made from.
The city has an industrial pre-treatment program that requires industries to remove chemical pollutants from their
sewage before it goes into the sewer lines. Officials said that protects the friendly bacteria at the treatment plant, the
Maumee River where the processed wastewater is released, and eventually the users of biosolids.
The Waste Institute’s Harrison, however, said that industrial pre-treatment does not remove all pollutants – and
chemical pollutants are not removed at the sewage plant.
“It’s a tremendous overstatement to suggest (industrial pre-treatment) has taken care of all the industrial contaminants
in sludge,” Harrison said. “Why should I put industrial waste on my property?”
dstockman@jg.net
From the loo back to you
The city of Fort Wayne tons of biosolids last year – a distributed 12,615 nutrient-rich soil additive made from sewage
sludge. It takes more than three years to go from the toilet to your tulips:
•After it arrives at the Water Pollution Control Plant, wastewater passes through screens that filter out solid objects,
then through a centrifuge that removes smaller solids, then settling ponds. Then it goes to the digesters, where
friendly bacteria eat the organic matter that remains. When the water is drained off, what’s left behind is sludge.
•The sludge then goes to 55 acres of basins, where it dries for three years and the pathogens in it are exposed to
extremes of hot and cold weather.
•It is then combined with ground-up yard waste and composted for three or four months.
•After being tested for fecal coliform and heavy metals, it is sold and given away.
Source: City of Fort Wayne