[Community_garden] response to question about biosolids (AKApeople poop)

Fri Mar 14 13:00:24 EDT 2008

soapboxes are good; they make us look taller.
I also believe this material should be reused, esp on areas that need to be 
reclaimed and regrown. And I agree that many of the bad elements will 
degrade in the soil--but they are there in the beginning and that's what 
worries me the most.
I would personally use the Disney World compost--poop and chopped up 
pallets--(you should see the set up they have!) because there's no industry 
there and no idiots changing their own oil and then killing millions of 
amphibians to save a $2 disposal fee. But in a community garden? I 
personally would not.
The best risk is the one not taken.
                                                                ---McG

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Garrett" <geografood at yahoo.com>
To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 12:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] response to question about biosolids 
(AKApeople poop)


> Kristen,
> Thank you for your detailed response. I live in Tacoma and use (and 
> contribute to) TAGRO. I gotta admit it took me a while to get in touch 
> with my scientific side (unlike organic soils and inputs, it is tested 
> thoroughly and often) and start using TAGRO for the food in my home garden 
> (and the community gardens that I used to manage). However, as Kristen 
> points out, TAGRO is somewhat unique. It is purely residential; no street 
> or commercial input. I would not trust the vast majority of bio-solids on 
> my food, nor knowing what I know now, would I condemn all bio-solids.
> Steven
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm writing in response to the question about the safety of biosolids
> for community garden plots.
>
> Yes, biosolids is the polite term for the solids left over after the
> wastewater treatment process.  Prior to the Clean Water Act's passage
> in 1971, most solids (poop) went out into nearby bodies of water.
> Now, federal regulations require that municipalities separate and
> treat their biosolids, and there is almost 40 years of research on
> how to do it well.  They are tightly regulated by the EPA for
> pathogens, vector attractants (how bad it stinks), and heavy metals.
>
> In 1993, there was an amendment to the law that created different
> classes of biosolids:  Class B, Class A, and Class A "Exceptional
> Quality".  Class B is subject to regulations and requires a permit to
> use, but is routinely applied to farmland (true, not organic farms).
> It is rich in organic matter and serves to replace petroleum-based
> fertilizer at low cost to farmers.  Class A is treated to a higher
> standard (often processed twice), is free of pathogens, and approved
> for home use by residential customers.  Class A "Exceptional quality"
> biosolids are an even higher class - free of pathogens and also
> adhering to even stricter standards for reduction of heavy metals.
> (Both Class B and Class A meet heavy metals standards that are
> already quite low - and certainly safe).
>
> The research shows thats the prescription drugs, solvents, etc. that
> end up in the wastewater system break down rapidly in an aerobic soil
> environment.  The bacteria that "digest" sewage are really
> remarkable, and can break down the complex molecules that form many
> of the "compounds of concern" - endocrine disruptors from birth
> control pills, for example.  The real problem with environmental
> toxins in wastewater treatment is in the wastewater.  Because things
> in water are in an anaerobic environment, they don't break down as
> quickly, and can cause problems for fish and other wildlife.  We want
> those compounds to end up in the biosolids because the bacterial life
> that exists in biosolids (and in healthy soil) knows how to take them
> apart.  (Heavy metals can't be taken apart, then must be kept out in
> the first place, which requires a good source control program).
>
> Sewer treatment plants act as the liver of the city, digesting many
> of the compounds that we humans, in our love of chemistry, have
> released into the environment.  There is much research taking place
> on how to improve the work, but the process as it stands today is
> remarkable and under-appreciated by most.
>
> I am not familiar with the wastewater treatment program in your area,
> but Class A biosolids are safe for home use, including vegetable
> gardens.  Yes, biosolids as a category are excluded from the National
> Organic Standards Act, but by using biosolids you are recycling a
> local product, and in a very real sense, closing the loop in the
> local food system.
>
> In live in Seattle, WA, and work in Tacoma, WA, where I use the Class
> A "Exceptional quality" biosolids from the City of Tacoma, (TAGRO -
> short for Tacoma Grow) in my work with the community gardens of
> Tacoma, and at home to grow my own food.  The heavy metals in Tagro
> are lower than background level soil in the Puget Sound region, and
> levels of lead and arsenic are lower than our region's yard waste
> compost. (Levels of zinc and copper are higher in Tagro, because
> those are in your pipes...)  But all are comparable to the soil in my
> backyard.  Check out www.tagro.com.  It is so popular, that it is not
> uncommon for demand to outpace supply by mid-summer.
>
> (Yard waste compost is not necessarily heavy metal free, and it is
> not subject to the strict testing that biosolids are.  Still, it's a
> good product to reuse for all the same reasons one should use reuse
> biosolids)
>
> As cities work to become more sustainable, it seems to me that the
> beneficial reuse and recycling of organic matter close to home is an
> important step.  We won't always have someone else's backyard in
> which to dispose of our messes, and transporting it far away is
> getting more and more expensive every day.
>
> I hope this didn't turn into a soapbox!  I'm happy to answer any more
> questions that you have.  Email me at kristenmcivor at mac.com.
>
>
> I strongly recommend against it. "Bio-solids" is nice talk for
> treated human
> waste from the sewer plant. (What's "Class A"? Poop from expensive
> neighborhoods?!)
>     This stuff is rife with the residues of prescription drugs (at much
> higher levels than the current drinking water scandal, especially
> antibiotics) and its contaminated with motor oil, solvents heavy
> metals and
> other bad things idiots and criminals pour down the drain.
>     I don't think its safe.
>     I would not let children or people with any kind of illness near
> it; and
> it is forbidden for use in organic agriculture. See if you can get
> that yard
> waste they mix it with, but all by itself; that's the best kind of
> compost...
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