WASHINGTON – GROUNDSKEEPER SUFFERS BLOODY NOSE, FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS, HEADACHES, RASHES,
DIARRHEA, HAIR LOSS, FATIGUE AND ALLERGY INDUCED ACUTE ASTHMATIC ATTACK AFTER EXPOSURE TO
CLASS A SEWAGE SLUDGE BIOSOLIDS COMPOST
From: DEBBIE BLUM "Icicle Junction Family Fun Center" <info@iciclejunction.com>
Date: Wed, February 11, 2004 8:47 pm To: cwmi@cornell.edu EXCERPTS:
I have been employed by the Enzian Inn in Leavenworth, Washington for the past
three years as groundskeeper. I prune shrubs, plant thousands of flowers on the hotel balconies, weed and maintain
the flower beds on the Enzian's championship putting
course, as well as the general up keep of the property. A professional landscape
designer, hired by the owners, suggested the flower beds have compost or mulch
added to them to make them more plant friendly. The Enzian purchases most of
the necessary chemicals and fertilizers from Wilbur Ellis. I was instructed to
contact them to see what they had in the way of compost. They suggested E.K.O.
compost. It cost $45 a ton , so I requested information on it . They sent me a
comparison sheet, which stated it was 100% organic, it was so much better
and had outstanding results. Totally we purchased 20 totes of the E.K.O. compost.
In late September of 2002 a co-worker and I laid the compost in 16 beds. due to the
slopes of the beds we mixed it with water and spread it on the beds 2-3 inches deep.
WE experienced bloody noses and flu like symptoms that we credited to the
cold and flu season. Because of other priorities I did not get to the flower beds until
June 2003. Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays were my days to work the beds.
I spent anywhere from 6-10 hours a day in the beds. I immediately acquired
a sinus headache between the eyes that continually increased in strength.
My breathing became labored, like I was really out of shape. Then I became
fatigued. It was so bad that I would go home at 4 in the afternoon go to bed
and sleep until 5a.m. the next morning only to get up as tired as when I went
to bed. Then my legs, arms and face started swelling. We have a dry heat
here and I've never reacted to the hot weather like that before. I was having
bouts of diarrhea, I was loosing hair rapidly, and I got a rash that looked
and felt like a sun burn. On Thursday July 3, 2003, I was working in one
of the beds and I was not feeling good , so I started up the hill to put my tools
away and I started wheezing. I put everything away and started up the incline
to the hotel and started gasping for air, and my chest started hurting.
I radioed for help ,my supervisor met ,after asking him to pray for me,
I was taken to the hospital. When I arrived my airways had totally
collapsed. They called it allergy induced acute asthmatic attack. When
the doc asked me what I was allergic to ? I said the only thing new was the
compost. Since the compost claimed to be 100% organic I thought molds.
Every time I got around the compost I would react. But when my blood tests
came back negative for molds, we researched more and found out that E.K.O.
was made from sewage sludge. Which explained the hair loss, diarrhea, and
rash on my leg that wasn't fitting in with mold allergies. My dilemma or situation
is; my doctors have not encountered sludge victims before and do not know what
to do I am and have always been very healthy. I've worked the last 10 years outside landscaping, gardening and so on.
I've had my own compost piles and never have
I reacted to anything like I do to this stuff. To intensify matters sludge trucks
from the Seattle area are dumping sludge in local wheat fields. The population
in this region knows nothing of sludge and it's effects . Please I know you are
very
busy and have many demands on your time, but I desperately need to talk with you.
If you can talk with my doctors so they know where to go from here . I am
overwhelmed from the research I've been doing but it's falling on deaf ears.
please I truly need your assistance.
You can E-Mail me in care of Ron Blum info@iciclejunction.com, or home
phone (509) 548-0713,or Ron's cell phone (509) 433-2192, or fax# (509)
548-2450.