Nevermind lawsuits, say supervisors trying to draft tough policy the first draft of Kern's sludge ban has an almost revolutionary ring to it: "In order to promote the general health, safety and welfare of Kern County and its inhabitants ... the land application of Biosolids shall be prohibited in the unincorporated area of Kern County." Supervisors headed straight into the jaws of a formidable beast Tuesday, setting sights on a total sludge ban here.
Wretched Excess Sludge, spread across the land, makes some people vomit and others very rich BY JOSH HARKINSON
But his [Massey's] family's health problems worsened. Less than two years after the sludge spreading began near his property, his daughter delivered baby Kade, who was born with cerebellum hypoplasia, an obscure brain defect caused by a buildup of fluids inside his head.
"We're used to resistant staph in the hospital as a problem among patients with heart failure, liver failure, cancer or other health problems," said David N. Gilbert of the Oregon Health & Science University. "It's started attacking normal healthy people, causing serious, often fatal illness."
Recently, three farm-worker families in a neighborhood of Immokalee gave birth to severely deformed children -- one without arms or legs, one without the capacity to keep his tongue from sliding back into his throat, and one without a nose, an ear and with no visible sexual organs. The story was reported in the Palm Beach Post, "Why was Carlitos born this way?"
Grand Jury calls for ban on biosolids: Local officials support call to halt influx of sewage
"The slightest possibility of pollution of the county's groundwater and the water bank facility is a chance the county cannot afford to take," the grand jury said in a report released Thursday. "The grand jury recommends an outright ban on all biosolids."
Sludge bill gets panel's blessing Florez wins key victory in fight to keep biosolids out of Kern
SACRAMENTO -- In a defeat for Los Angeles and Orange County sanitation agencies, a Senate committee Tuesday narrowly endorsed a bill that would make it easier for Kern County to ban sewage sludge imports
"Enforcement and real consequences are the only means by which this industry will change."
Florez's SB 120 Seeks Enforcement of Sludge Standards
Standards for 126 contaminants considered “priority pollutants” would be aggressively tested for and strictly enforced under SB 120. Florez doubts many plants are currently meeting these standards, including those which would supply the proposed Synagro plant.