NPR blog on controversy regarding biosolids as compost

[lycomania]

Originally Posted by PaulF

I worked for many years in the wastewater department of a major corn syrup manufacturing facility in the mid-west. We processed around 5 million gallons of industrial waste per day. This waste was 100% corn by-products (the human waste was kept completely separate). From the industrial waste there was a sludge that was reprocessed back to the animal feed portion of the facility that used other by-products of the corn milling process to manufacture high protein animal feed pellets.

The industrial waste sludge was tested hourly for contents to be sure it was safe to be in the food chain. Even though all these safety procedures were in place, in England there was the "mad cow" scare. They thought the disease was contracted through returning "waste" to the feed supply. Even though that was animal waste and probably human waste, we were instructed to immediately stop returning our sludge for use in animal feed.

A case where in the political arena some desk jockey decided that waste is waste is waste without anything to go by but the sound of what something is called rather than what it is. That food grade sludge was then approved to be land applied on farm fields for a while, but then another desk politician decided that too was not in the best interest of the world, so then everything had to be landfilled, buried and covered with soil.

Another case of protecting us from ourselves no matter the reality or the science involved. I would not use human waste on my food supply no matter the compost parameters, but I would consider it on my lawn.

What does all this rambling mean? I don't trust a bureaucrat to tell me what is safe or dangerous. They just need to protect their job. Show me the science first and then I will consider the source if it can be found. Sorry about the Saturday morning ramblings.

Many many thanks for this intelligent and informed post.