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

Steven Garrett geografood at yahoo.com
Fri Mar 14 14:26:24 EDT 2008 

Mike,
Yup, people put all kinds of crap (pun intended) into their toilets. As counter-intuitive as it seems, it does not matter in the case the Kristen outlined. The aerobic process breaks down all but toxins that people do not have access to in any meaningful quantity. 

On the other hand, home composting is not nearly as effective in breaking down chemicals and even unsprayed urban lawns and soils have toxins. To wit, I was on a state panel to determine the safety of an industrial scale aerobic process to break down pure grass clippings. These grass clippings came from all over the county and you know the kind of chemicals that people put in grass. Well to everyone's surprise, none of these chemicals made it through the process. They were all broken down completely to undetectable levels, even after only 5 days of hot aerobic decomposition. The only toxins present were those which are now banned and never sprayed on lawns anyway; Lindane and DDT. These are everywhere, on organic soils and food and in your bodies.

You'all can go on believing what you want to believe, but I am going with the science and lab reports on this one. OK, now I am stepping off of my Tidy-Bowl box.
Cheers,
Steven

actually, quite a few [people] use the toilet as an all-around toxic waste 
disposal unit--and one of the problems with these meds in drinking water is 
the old advice to flush unused portions.
I say use yard waste compost first; bio-solids last in veggie gardens.
                                                            ---McG
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Garrett" <geografood at yahoo.com>
To: "community gardening" <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] response to question about 
biosolids(AKApeople poop)


> Mike,
> To reiterate, in the bio-solid case brought up by Kristen, we are talking 
> about residential toilets only. There have to be few people stupid enough 
> to pour oil into their toilet for risk of clogging their drains. Besides, 
> oil would be broken down in the aerobic decomposition process. Most people 
> do not have ample access to minerals/chemicals that would not be broken 
> down in this process. How many people have boxes of powered heavy metals 
> or persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs), like DDT, laying around that 
> they want to flush down their toilet?
> Steven
>
>
> 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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