Today is June 1st, the beginning of the fertilizer ban in Martin County, especially Sewall’s Point that goes through November.
It was Mr Gary Roderick who worked for Martin County that first taught me about Biosolids, or “fertilizer” made from all of our human waste. It was Gary who taught me about the business of spreading this on the lands, the state basically paying farmers to do so, and how no matter how hard we all worked, no matter a reservoir and water sent south or not, the truth of the matter is that we just keep over-nutrifying and polluting the land and thus our waters just as fast as we can try to fix them.
On Sunday , May 27th, 2017 TCPalm ran an article by Lucas Daprile, part of an outstanding series they are doing on this issues. The article begins: “The state plans to allow a massive farm (Sunbreak Farms) on the St Lucie/Indian River County line to annually fertilize its cornfields with 80,000 tons of compost comprised of one-fourth treated human waste.”
Chances are the Department of Environmental Protection will approve this because “it’s safe”…as they have for decades.
This waste-made-fertilizer should be shipped and sold to areas outside of the state that do not have the nutrient issues we do in here Florida –not spread in watersheds that drain into Lake Okeechobee and the Indian River Lagoon.
Drowning in our human excrement? You’ve got to be kidding me.
_____________________________________________
St Lucie County Commission Meeting on this issue “Sunbreak Farm’s Permit”
6pm, June 6th, 2017, 23000 Virginia Ave, 3rd Floor, Ft Pierce, Florida
Useful links/and some articles where Gary Roderick is quoted:
Nutrient Pollution in waterways: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrient_pollution
http://digital.ecomagazine.com/publication/?i=327714#{“issue_id”:327714,”view”:”contentsBrowser”} – September 2016 – Just scroll down to the Toxic Algae article…..
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article95442427.html
……Latest TCPalm series:
http://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/investigations/2017/04/26/biosolids-disposal-solutions/99744306/
References to understand biosolid production and distribution and effects on water and the environment:
https://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/biosolids.html
Click to access 0611%20tech4.pdf
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss634
Click to access BiosolidsFlorida-2013-Summary.pdf
“Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States generate approximately
7 million dry tons of biosolids each year. Since biosolids are rich in plant nutrients, farmers, landscapers, and homeowners use about 50 percent of the annual production of biosolids as fertilizer for plants. Biosolids must meet standards for nutrient, metal, and pathogen content before it can be used to fertilize plants and to improve the quality of soil. Because a variety of pharmaceuticals and other household chemicals have been found in the wastewater discharged from WWTPs, questions have been raised about the presence of these chemicals in biosolids. To help answer the questions the scientists purchased or obtained nine different commercially or publicly available biosolids and analyzed them for 87 organic chemicals found in cleaners, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and other products.” USGS
Previous blog on this subject:https://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/tag/biosolid-distribution-south-florida/
Big business OWNS politicians, therefore a decision in favor of the environment from DEP (Rick Scott) would seem problematic.
Same ole, Same ole – FOLLOW THE MONEY!!
Thank you Jacqui for today’s report. We simply have to gather support to stop this insanity. No testing no inspections etc. Wayne
Sent from my iPad
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Definitely worth attention, hoping to be at the Commissioners Meeting next week, thank you.
Ezra!!! Yes. Thanks
thank you for your strong,persistent work in documenting these dangerous and ongoing
acts against nature. our collective nature!
Thanks Jim!
Thank you for your support of our waterways. I currently I live on the Treasure Coast, the fishing capital of the country, and yet I am afraid to eat fish caught locally. How disingenuous is that?
It is wrong. Thank you for writing.
Thank you, Jacqui, for covering this issue. It is something my husband and I have been concerned about since we first heard of it. What is the solution? What can residents do to help top this?
One thing that can be done immediately is for the Property Appraiser to NOT grant agricultural tax benefits to those farmers who are being paid to dump waste on their land. In some cases the human waste is several feet thick! That is not a farm, it’s a dump! Meanwhile, Property Appraisers around the state deny agricultural benefits for commercial bee apiaries which by keeping land pristine to provide bee forage, are actually cleaning the environment. We need to align tax incentives toward preserving natural ecosystems, not reward those profiting from polluting.
Julie Zahniser
Founder, The American Bee Project
Well said Julie! We must petition locally and statewide. And especially for the 🐝 bees.
Thank you Jacqui for your hard work on this subject. I have lived on the St. Lucie River for over 72 years and have seen it go from reasonable to deplorable and every year our political leaders say they’re going to do something about it. I hope this is the straw that will break the camels back. They holler so much about septic tanks and put everybody on a sewer system. Then they collect the waste from everywhere, put it in tanker trucks and spread it on the Kissimmee River basin. Therefore when it rains the overflow comes right back down into Lake Okeechobee and then right back onto us. You would think our officials would be smarter than this. You might say the St. Lucie River is a drain field. Last year I had to do some work on my riverfront and two days later I had 101° fever. This must stop. Richard Miller
Thank you Richard. It is the grand irony scam. Very much relate and appreciate your comments! All the best!
Jacqui, you mention at the bottom of your article “St Lucie County Commission Meeting on this issue “Sunbreak Farm’s Permit” is 6pm, June 6th, 2017, 23000 Virginia Ave, 3rd Floor, Ft Pierce, Florida”.
Will you be there? I would be happy to spread the word help fill the chamber if it will help. St Lucie County is considering an ordinance to prevent dumping of biosolids on our watershed, it is not solely related to Sunbreak Farms permit, which is the hands of the DEP apparently.
Julie I will be attending a meeting of the Constitution Revision Commission in Orlando. I was appointed by Joe Negron this year and I travel now almost weekly. I regret I cannot attend the meeting of the SL Co Commission but I encourage you to get others also to attend. Sit in front. Get there early. Submit speaking slips to clerk early. Call one of the commissioners ahead of time and city manager. It’s a lot of work but worth it no matter the outcome. People must learn and speak on this issue that has been under the radar until only recently. If I can assist in any other way please let me know and thanks so much for caring and for doing. ~Jacqui
Jacqui ~
Since I live in SLC (PSL), I will contact Commissioner Linda Bartz, our former City Council member. Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky is the one to call on Monday, prior to the meeting – especially if people cannot attend – to voice their concerns. Contact: 772-462-1100
Among his appointments as Commissioner, Chris serves as Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, Vice Chair of the Mosquito Control District, and Chair of the Environmental Control Board.
KATE ROTINDO of the St. Lucie County’s UF/IFAS Extension Office is a good friend of the environment and an art colleague.
Please contact Kate Rotindo, Urban Horticulture Agent at the St. Lucie County Extension Office, for more information: krotindo@ufl.edu or 772-462-1660.
Chris Dzadovsky is for stopping this practice so everyone needs to reach out to the other commissioners to get them on board too. Linda Bartz can be reached at 772-462-1406. The rest can be reached by email: Links to each commissioner’s email can be found here:
http://www.stlucieco.gov/departments-services/a-z/board-of-county-commissioners/district-2-tod-mowery-vice-chair
Chris is a great commissioner and person to work with on water issues.
To make it even easier, here is the text of my email to the commissioners that you are welcome to use as a start to write your own:
Dear ____________,
I recently learned that farmers are being paid by cities and counties to dump “Biosolid Fertilizers” on land in our watershed, despite all the efforts and expense to send the water from Lake O south, and all the efforts to get rid of septic tanks. This is insane!
I understand that there is a proposed ordinance to stop this practice in St Lucie County that will be coming up for discussion at the St Lucie County Commission Meeting regarding “Sunbreak Farm’s Permit” 6pm, June 6th, 2017. I hope that you will support protecting our watershed and vote to pass this ordinance.
For more info about this issue, please see Jacqui Thurlow Lippisch’s excellent article, with links to additional information: https://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2017/06/01/drowning-in-our-own-human-excrement-fertilizer-slrirl/comment-page-1/#comment-15933
Sincerely,
Thank you!
Luca Vincent commented on Drowning in Our Own Human-Excrement-Fertilizer, SLR/IRL.
in response to Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch:
Today is June 1st, the beginning of the fertilizer ban in Martin County, especially Sewall’s Point that goes through November. It was Mr Gary Roderick who worked for Martin County that first taught me about Biosolids, or “fertilizer” made from all of our human waste. It was Gary who taught me about the business of … Continue reading Drowning in Our Own Human-Excrement-Fertilizer, SLR/IRL
It is so important to remember that sewer sludge aka biosolids is NOT just poop – it is a concentration of all domestic and industrial pollutants that go down drains and sewers. It has some good stuff in it, which plants can use, but a huge load of thousands of other contaminants. Please read what independent scientists have to say on this issue –
Three Informed Views on Sewer Sludge (aka Biosolids)
Dr. Caroline Snyder – “Land-applied municipal sewage sludge (biosolids) is a highly complex and unpredictable mixture of biological and chemical pollutants. Biosolids generated in our large industrialized urban centers is very likely the most pollutant- rich waste mixture of the 21st century.”
Dr. Marilyn Cameron – “We are concerned that farmers are not being provided adequate information about biosolids and the negative impacts that its use could have on your soils, groundwat…er and surface water sources, livestock health, and property values. Farmers will be the ones left paying the price for any damaged land, contaminated water, or human, wildlife and livestock illnesses, etc. Farmers may also suffer losses resulting from lack of consumer confidence in local foods”
Dr. Richard Honour – “”Few in any governments appreciate that nearly all chronic diseases are caused by long-term exposure to low levels of environmental contaminants and pollutants. We should be trying to minimize this exposure, not amplifying it. It is time to end land disposal of Toxic Sewer sludge, and look at cleaner, greener alternatives – gasification / pyrolysis.”
Let’s get on the right side of history, and use this waste resource to make energy. It is time to stop covering Mother Earth with our cities’ toxic sewage.
And see this link for a great overview of the issues – http://bit.ly/2kehQlP by Dr. Thomas Maler
Scientists against land dispersed “biosolids”
Canadian- http://bit.ly/1sb2qOP
UK- http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/sewage_sludge_biosolids.html
US- http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b01931
The Green Alternative – The answer is gasification / pyrolysis …not simply dispersing this toxic waste on farms and forests –
see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7EZjUOywzE
and see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcq_soCc6dc
and see – http://www.cbc.ca/…/plasma-gasification-alberta…
and see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUDyKpOyYa4
lets get energy out of this resource AND rid the environment of these toxins.
Reply Like
Thank you for this!JTL
It is so important to remember that sewer sludge aka biosolids is NOT just poop – it is a concentration of all domestic and industrial pollutants that go down drains and sewers. It has some good stuff in it, which plants can use, but a huge load of thousands of other contaminants. Please read what independent scientists have to say on this issue –
Three Informed Views on Sewer Sludge (aka Biosolids)
Dr. Caroline Snyder – “Land-applied municipal sewage sludge (biosolids) is a highly complex and unpredictable mixture of biological and chemical pollutants. Biosolids generated in our large industrialized urban centers is very likely the most pollutant- rich waste mixture of the 21st century.”
Dr. Marilyn Cameron – “We are concerned that farmers are not being provided adequate information about biosolids and the negative impacts that its use could have on your soils, groundwat…er and surface water sources, livestock health, and property values. Farmers will be the ones left paying the price for any damaged land, contaminated water, or human, wildlife and livestock illnesses, etc. Farmers may also suffer losses resulting from lack of consumer confidence in local foods”
Dr. Richard Honour – “”Few in any governments appreciate that nearly all chronic diseases are caused by long-term exposure to low levels of environmental contaminants and pollutants. We should be trying to minimize this exposure, not amplifying it. It is time to end land disposal of Toxic Sewer sludge, and look at cleaner, greener alternatives – gasification / pyrolysis.”
Let’s get on the right side of history, and use this waste resource to make energy. It is time to stop covering Mother Earth with our cities’ toxic sewage.
And see this link for a great overview of the issues – http://bit.ly/2kehQlP by Dr. Thomas Maler
Scientists against land dispersed “biosolids”
Canadian- http://bit.ly/1sb2qOP
UK- http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/sewage_sludge_biosolids.html
US- http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b01931
The Green Alternative – The answer is gasification / pyrolysis …not simply dispersing this toxic waste on farms and forests –
see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7EZjUOywzE
and see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcq_soCc6dc
and see – http://www.cbc.ca/…/plasma-gasification-alberta…
and see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUDyKpOyYa4
lets get energy out of this resource AND rid the environment of these toxins.
Jacqui, what about a Constiutional Amendment through the revision commission? Is that something you are working on?