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US Judge Orders Compensation of Farmer Ruined by Sludge Used as Fertilizer
A Georgian dairy farmer Andy McElmurray today finds his 1,730 acres poisoned beyond hope. He had wanted to plant in corn and cotton to feed his herd. In the event, only his cows grazing the contaminated fields died in their hundreds.
The sludge used by the farmer, from a wastewater treatment plant, contained levels of arsenic, toxic heavy metals and PCBs two to 2,500 times federal health standards.
Also, data endorsed by Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials about toxic heavy metals found in the free sludge provided by Augusta's sewage treatment plant was "unreliable, incomplete, and in some cases, fudged," Alaimo wrote.
EPA-commissioned research by the University of Georgia based on the Augusta data was included in a National Academy of Sciences report and served as a linchpin for the government's assertion that sludge didn't pose a health risk.
In his 45-page ruling, Alaimo said that along with using the questionable data, "senior EPA officials took extraordinary steps to quash scientific dissent, and any questioning of EPA's biosolids program."
Thus the judge has raised new doubts about a 30-year government policy that encourages farmers to spread millions of tons of sewage sludge over thousands of acres each year as an alternative to commercial fertilizers, news agency AP reports.
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