Good environmental intentions; horrifying results. Essential reporting from Hiroko Tabuchi in the @nytimes.comwww.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/c...
Fertilizer made from city sewage has been spread on millions of acres of farmland for decades. Scientists say it can contain high levels of the toxic substance.
Toxic Sludge Is (still not) Good For You If only we’d had someone to warn us that we’re all Living Downstream… (h/t PR Watch, & John Stauber, & @exposedbycmd.bsky.socialprwatch.org/tsigfy.html
Highly recommend Hybrid Nature by Daniel Schneider which covers the 19th century development of modern wastewater treatment and the long push for biosolids application (aka WWTP profitability). Also TBF this happens with every new listed pollutant, we already grade biosolids on application potential
A gift link so that everybody can read the whole thing. www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/c... Far of this kind of contamination was one of the reasons that the 1990s letter-writing campaign for the federal organic food standards asked that sewage sludge be barred from fields where organic food is grown
Fertilizer made from city sewage has been spread on millions of acres of farmland for decades. Scientists say it can contain high levels of the toxic substance.
There may have been those with good intentions, but the promotion of the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer was a heavy industry lobbying effort, followed by activists for decades. www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03...
Reporting like this is the reason I’m still subscribing. Excellent work but devastating news
Hiroko was a good follow on Twitter. Someone get her over here.
Agricultural runoff Never makes it into water systems, good plan 😃