EPA: Sewage Sludge Safe To Use As Fertilizer

Eric Jensen, owner of Jensen Farms, examines
cantaloupes in his field last September.

Cantaloupes from Jensen Farms have to date sickened 146 and killed 33 people. The illnesses were a result of infection by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. This foodborne illness outbreak is one of the worst in US history, measured by number of deaths.

Today I read:

Exclusive: Biosolids Near Farm Examined For Listeria Link

"A company that sprays treated human waste on Colorado fields is being questioned as investigators look into the source of a listeria outbreak tied to Colorado-grown cantaloupe.

The human waste, known as biosolids ... come from New York and are shipped to Colorado to be disposed of because New York cannot handle the volume of its human waste.

The substance was applied to a field directly across from a Jensen Farms field years ago."

But the EPA says sewage sludge is safe to use as fertilizer because it has been "carefully treated and monitored."

"The use of these materials in the production of crops for human consumption when practiced in accordance with existing federal guidelines and regulations, presents negligible risk to the consumer, to crop production and to the environment."

So, the FDA, who is conducting the investigation, doesn't trust the EPA?

Interesting:

"Dr. David Lewis worked for the EPA for 31 years. In a peer-reviewed article in Environmental Science and Technology he showed that pathogens could easily remain undetected in untreated sewage sludge. Since the government is pushing the use of this sludge for agricultural fertilizer, Lewis was harassed and finally fired in May 2003. At a hearing on the role of science in shaping public policy he charged the EPA with "corrupt[ing] the scientific peer review process in order to support certain political agendas and further the agency's self-interest." "

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