Biosolids are not safe or sustainable

To The Eagle:

Many statements made during the recent biosolids seminar hosted by Wahkiakum County were misleading and deceptive.

Biosolids is not just human waste, but a complex mixture of thousands of industrial and hazardous chemicals, that are not removed when this material is treated. Spreading it on land has sickened people, polluted drinking wells, degraded healthy soil, and killed live stock that ingested forage grown on land treated with biosolids. This waste is not "heavily regulated." In fact, the latest National Academy of Sciences biosolids report warned that this material is so complex, containing so many pollutants that it is impossible to do a reliable risk assessment when used, that would protect public health. Only nine chemicals are regulated. "It may look like dirt, and smell like fertilizer" but the Federal Clean Water Act defines biosolids as a pollutant.

Despite what Sally Brown, her student Kate Kurtz, and Duane Leaf claim, there is not one peer reviewed paper that proves that using biosolids on land is safe, beneficial, or sustainable. Brown works closely with Rufus Chaney, who helped write the US regulations and continues to defend the current rules, despite growing evidence that they are not protective.

There is very little difference between Class A and Class B. Class A contains fewer, but more robust pathogens, and the same amount of toxic metals and chemicals as Class B sludge. Legally Class A can contain 41 mg/kg of arsenic, 39 mg/kg of cadmium, 300 mg/kg of lead, and 17 mg/kg of mercury and any amount of chromium, molybdenum, other toxic metals, cancer causing PCBs as well as viable pathogens that can re-grow when the material is stored or gets wet. I can't believe that the state's biosolids coordinator, who knows all this, told the audience that Class A sludge is "100 percent pure!"

I urge the commissioners to get accurate and science-based information about the many serious risks to health, livestock, and the environment that have been linked to biosolids use. As a starter you might want to visit http://www.biosolidsfacts.org. There are good reasons why so many counties and towns across the US have banned or strictly regulate both Class A and Class B biosolids.

Caroline Snyder Ph.D.

Rochester Institute of Technology