In Lynden Washington, two girls, Ashley Zander, a slim
eight year old with naturally curly brown hair and blue eyes,
and Diana Zander, her brown-haired blue-eyed ten-year old
sister are laughing and playing at their grandparents' home.
At first glance, they appear to be normal, healthy girls but
already they are showing the effects from exposure in the
womb to sewage sludge pollutants in the contaminated water
their mother unknowingly drank while carrying them.
Ashley is almost hyper, she can't concentrate and has an
attention deficit. Diana is very fragile and her feelings
are hurt quite easily. She is already exhibiting diminished
mental capacity and learning disabilities from the
contamination. Unlike her younger sister Ashley, Diana's
formula was mixed with water from the contaminated well.
She's also suffering from stomach and liver problems. Diana
picked up blastocystis hominis, a waterborne parasite, found
only in human feces from bathing in contaminated water. The
medicine they gave her to get rid of the parasite has left
her with an irritated stomach. Their mother was recently
(July, 1998) diagnosed with having two types of fecal
parasites in her blood. Ashley and Diana are the grand-
children of Linda and Raymond Zander.
For twenty eight years Linda and Raymond had lived in a
picturesque yellow two story house on their productive dairy
farm in Lynden, Washington. The house was majestically
situated on a well manicured lawn, abundantly surrounded by
fruit trees and sugar maples and rhododendrons that every
spring burst into bloom. Then the tragedy struck. Linda and
Raymond's family became unknowing victims when Western
Services, a sewage sludge hauler, began spreading sludge on
70 acres of a neighbor's farm.
Sewage sludge is the residue of all of the material
flushed down the toilet and sinks from homes as well as all
of the hazardous materials flushed down the drains from
industry, hospitals, and newspapers. In many cases, it
includes the toxic material washed into street storm water
drains such as petroleum products, cadmium, lead, etc.
Sludge is produced when sewage wastewater is treated to
remove most of the solids which contain infectious disease
causing organisms as well as hazardous organic chemicals,
which include materials from the home such as drain cleaners,
pesticides, and surfactants from washing detergents. Sewage
sludge also contains toxic inorganic chemicals such as the
heavy metals arsenic, lead, chromium, mercury, nickel, etc.
As a result of the Zanders' exposure to the various
toxic pollutants contaminating the sewage sludge, through air
and water as well as the food chain, the odds of this middle-
aged couple living to a ripe old age are somewhere between
slim and none. Linda is suffering from chemically-induced
brain damage, thyroid problems, and immune system damage. She
also had mycoplasma pneumonia. Raymond suffers from
hypothyroid, lupus and nickel toxicity.
As nickel is also a carcinogen, he is faced with the
prospect that he could also develop cancer. Linda's eyesight
has also been affected; she has been warned that there is a
possibility that she could go blind. The terrible physical
and mental suffering that they have had to endure, through no
fault of their own, is etched in their faces, the pallor of
their skin and the carriage of their bodies. It has aged
them. Linda's once blonde hair, now turned dark, is streaked
with gray. Raymond's once clear, expressive, blue eyes are
now dull and expressionless reflecting the pain that he daily
suffers.
Within a year after the sludge spreading began on their
neighbor's farm, changes began occurring in their normally
healthy dairy cows. The records from the Whatcom Community
College Farm Management show the milk average from their
dairy dropped from 19,892 lbs. in 1988 to 16,575 lbs. in
1990. By 1989, several cows had developed severe arthritis
in their hindquarters. Calves were being born with strange
tendon abnormalities. Becoming alarmed by the worsening
condition of the herd, the Zanders contacted Dr. Susan Cook,
an independent water quality specialist, to analyze their
well water. When Dr. Cook analyzed samples from the Zanders'
well and the wells in the area that had a similar soil
profile, she found the Zanders' well contained nickel and tin
not found in the other wells and normally not found in any
rural wells. Checking sludge analyses reports for 5 of the
municipalities, whose sewage sludge was being spread on the
adjacent property, they discovered the metals found in the
well were also found in the sludge. At about the same time
the dairy herd was being adversely affected from drinking the
tainted well water, Linda and Raymond, who also drank the
well water, were starting to experience ill health.
Linda learned the hard way that the regulatory agencies
(county, state and federal) who are responsible for ensuring
the health and well-being of its citizens will do nothing to
help them. When Linda went to Whatcom County Health
Department seeking their help, she knew she would get no
assistance from anyone in the department when she learned
that it was the Health Department who had approved the land
application of the sludge that was making them ill.
In 1988, the Whatcom County Health Department had issued
a permit, with the approval of the State Department of
Ecology as required by state law, for the land application of
sludge on the Van Dalen Farm. The county renewed it in 1989,
without the approval by the state as required by the state
law. When Linda presented evidence to the County showing
that the permit should not have been issued in the first
place and asking that it be revoked, her evidence was ignored
and the permit was re-issued with out the approval by the
state. The permit to spread sludge should never have been
granted in the first place because of the pH of the soil.
Soil samples taken from the site adjacent to the Zanders'
property showed a pH of 4.8 to 5.5 which did not meet site
regulation requirement of the State and Federal governments
policy which required a pH of 6.5. The Guidelines for sludge
application of the Department of Ecology (D.O.E.) stated that
soil with a low pH allows heavy metals to mobilize and move
into plant tissue and ground water. The highly acid peat soil
allowed the toxic metals in the Van Dalen's soil to leach out
of the soil and into the ground water which contaminated the
Zanders' drinking water well. Further investigation revealed
that toxic chemicals from the site were also volatizing into
the air. They were inhaling as well as ingesting the toxic
poisons through the water, milk, plants and meat.
It wasn't until the Zanders appeared before the Whatcom
County Hearing Examiner, Edward Good, contesting the re-
permitting that they were able to get the sludge dumping
permit revoked. The permit was revoked by Good with
prejudice and prima facie facts--68 findings of fact in
violations of the law. The permit had been wrongly granted.
Although the Zanders had stopped the legal dumping of sludge,
illegal dumping was carried on in the early hours of the
night.
In a series of personal interviews and correspondences,
Linda Zander related to us the terrible ordeal she and her
family have gone through, the painful, debilitating diseases
they are daily suffering from, their callous treatment by the
County, and State whom they turned to for help, destruction
of their livelihood, shunning by some of their neighbors,
harassing phone calls at all hours, destruction of their
property, threats to their lives, and finally bankruptcy.
The Zanders no longer live in the picturesque yellow two
story house. The Pollutant contamination on their farm
became so great that they were forced to move from their home
of twenty-six years, the home they had planned to live in
until they died. Many of their trees are now dead or dying.
Although the rhododendrons will still bloom in the spring,
they will not be there to see them. It is eerily quiet there
now. No dairy cattle are lowing, and no children are
laughing and playing on the well-manicured lawn. The croaking
of frogs is no longer heard for they have disappeared from
the polluted creek. Salmon no longer swim in the creek.
Pollutants in the creek sediment have destroyed the eggs, the
fry and the fish. Linda has only returned one time to the
farm since they moved. She accompanied Dr. Singer, a
neurotoxicologist, who wanted to visit the farm. The air was
so contaminated with pollutants, it stung their eyes and made
breathing difficult. After only 15 minutes they were forced
to leave.
In a National Sludge Alliance News Brief, dated 2/98
Charlotte Hartman, director, related that when the
Zanders' farm was up for auction by the government FHA, there
were no takers even for one dollar. According to the news
brief, "The Zanders had placed disclosure on all three
titles. But the environmental assessment and most of the
contaminates, combinations of materials and the water borne
parasites, Blastocystis Hominis were not considered by FHA.
FHA is now worried about liability and it has been suggested
that lands be placed in priority conservation easement for 40
years, board up the house and let it sit!"
No one can tell Linda's story of the physical suffering
and mental duress she and her family have had to endure
better than Linda herself. I have chosen excerpts from
Linda's diaries where she painfully describes the ordeal they
were put through because they happened to have the misfortune
to live next to land where sewage sludge was applied.
Bankruptcy
We are now suffering economically as well as physically.
The bank has refused to give us the operational farm
loan that they had already approved and which was
federally secured by FHA. Without the loan, we are
going to be forced to sell our remaining dairy herd and
file bankruptcy. We will have to let our farm and home
go back to the FHA in payment of our debt.
Destruction of Property
Our car has been maliciously damaged on rear top of
fender and scratched across the top. More harassment--
plain and simple.
Dad arrived--small caliber gun shot out his camper
window last night. Shell's inside somewhere. I called
the sheriff for him. We will file a harassment
complaint.
Dave, our milker, had his car broken into, window broken
too.
Harassment
Got a harassing phone call from a female. She wanted to
talk to Sindraella Zandella. Called it in. It should be
very interesting to find out who is doing this.
Another harassing phone call. This time asked for jock
strap. It was a male voice. Must get police number and
recorder on Tuesday. Enough is enough.
Dad was here today. His bank statements, and personal
mail are being opened and taped shut. I called David,
the postal inspector, and mailed the envelope to him.
Mail from Bricklin was opened. We are horrified. First
our phone was tapped, now the mail is opened. Tampering
with the mail is a crime. Sent the opened letter to the
Federal Postal Investigator. We will have to get a post
office box in Bellingham tomorrow.
Mental Duress
I am terribly sad and feel like crying again. There is
no end to what these people have done to all of us. How
can this go on and on? When will we get relief?
We just feel like walking out of here. It physically and
mentally hurts us to be here; twenty five years of
farming and its down the drain. All our hopes and dreams
for a comfortable retirement are gone.
I wonder if more of us will die before we get out of
here. To look at this place, one would ever know it's
contaminated. Funny how looks can be deceiving.
Midnight Dumping
There was an illegal dump of sewage sludge last night in
the neighborhood. The smell permeates the air. Ray and I
are both extremely sensitive to it.
Unbelievable but Western Services are still night
dumping. Tanker truck and train came into Van Dalens
last night.
Western Services did it again. Time 1:50 a.m. The
sewage smell woke me up. I am nauseated, my sinuses
hurt, head aches, its hard to breathe.
Physical symptoms
Ray and I are both physically spent! I'm terribly sleepy
and tired. Ray is the same and has a sinus infection.
Our resistance to infections is very low. My eyes are
sore and red.
Nickel tests came back and Ray is showing nickel
exceeding a level considered maximum. Our research was
right on and we were right. Synergistic effect also with
tin, nickel and manganese exceed lead. No wonder Ray is
in pain!
Ray is in excruciating pain. Ibeprophen doesn't help
much and he is sleeping in a chair! I hurt and have had
a headache that just goes on and on. Medicine helps but
as soon as its effects wear off, pain again.
Our health symptoms match our cows. That is not
comforting, in fact, it's scary! What will be the long
term effects from chronic exposure? The new book on
toxic effects of metals shows Ray is in the 90% risk for
carcinogenic tumors and lung problems from nickel. That
is most unsettling.
The Polluted air
The air was so intense and putrid you could actually
taste it in your mouth and smell it in your
perspiration. The smell of urine, feces, rotten
vegetables permeated the air.
Reaction of the County
Talked to Bert Brainerd, the health officer. He listened
to my complaint that sludge was making us sick, and then
he said, "What are we going to do with it?" I told him
if it was so safe, put it in city hall. After standing
there with his mouth partly open he said "but there's
hardly anybody out there." Meaning we don't count; we
are expendable.
Threats to our lives
If we hadn't had those four big dogs, we wouldn't be
alive today. Last night we were awakened from our sleep
by the dogs loud nonstop barking. When we let them out
of the garage and the house suspecting someone up to no
good might be out there, they took off. We heard a
ferocious growl from the Malamute, then someone yelling,
and a car starting up. The next morning we found a
steel rod in the path in front of the house. When we
called the law, the officer who came out said when we
showed him the steel rod, "The news would have read
couple killed by a blunt instrument--and this steel rod
would have been the murder weapon." The Malamute must
have grabbed whoever was holding the steel rod by the
wrist forcing him to drop it.
Another attempt on my life. When I was coming down the
Trapline Rd. toward Everson, a red 3/4 ton pickup truck
headed straight for me on my side of the road. To avoid
being forced off the road, I stopped dead still. I don't
know what would have happened to me if a county road
maintenance truck hadn't come along then. When the
driver of the red pickup saw the maintenance truck, he
crossed over to his own side of the road and continued
South.
Another near miss today. I'm glad I listened to the
lawyer's advice about taking different roads and not the
same one every time I went out. I never noticed the one
ton truck that was following me West on Pangborn, but my
folks who lived just off the road did. They told me the
truck followed me for awhile, then turned off the road
taking a short cut which would have put it on the road I
used to drive everyday. I wonder what surprise was
waiting for me there. He was the one who got the
surprise, I didn't take that road.
A light green farm pickup with a gas tank on the back
almost got Ray today while he was on the tractor. It was
traveling right at him at a high speed that Ray
estimated was in excess of 90 miles per hour. Ray was
able to get far enough away to avoid getting hit. He was
lucky the way the land was sloping that when he was
forced off the road that he didn't turn the tractor over
on top of him. If he had the murder would have looked
like an accident.
Ray fears that I will be killed. So many that we have
helped are winning their fight against the so called
"beneficial use" of sludge that are making people sick
and destroying property and livelihoods. I do believe
Ray may be right, but I will continue to help anyone I
can; I do not fear death.
Linda confided to me that her greatest worry is what
will be the long-term effects from the exposure of the
pollutants in the water and air on her precious little
granddaughters. She had good reason to fear the worse. A
hired hand and friend had died from questionable causes.
Linda's worst fears were realized when Dr. Singer, a
neurotoxicologist, performed a neurotoxicity screening on
Ashley and Diana. The tests showed the children were
exhibiting the same symptoms experienced by patients
suffering from neurotoxicity. The doctors report for the
girls was short and to the point:
Ashley Zander
Neurotoxicity Screening Survey 9/14/97
The Overall Neurotoxicity Indicator: 273 (cutoff=206)
Performed by Raymond Singer, Neurobehavioral Toxicologist
Elevated score indicated that Ashley reported symptoms in
that category similar to those reported by patients with
neurotoxicity. This respondent's responses were consistent
with neurobehavioral toxicity. Symptom categories in which
there were elevated scores were Memory and Concentration,
Autonomic Nervous System, Vision, Smell-taste, Sensory-motor,
Chemical Sensitivity and Emotionality. Two symptom
categories were borderline--Hearing and Peripheral numbness.
Only two were within normal limits--balance and distortion.
Diana Zander
Neurotoxicity Screening Survey 9/14/97
The Overall Neurotoxicity Indicator: 289 (Cutoff=206)
Performed by Raymond Singer, Neurobehavioral Toxicologist
Elevated score indicated that Diana reported symptoms in that
category similar to those reported by patients with
neurotoxicity. This respondent's responses were consistent
with neurobehavioral toxicity. Symptom categories in which
there were elevated scores were Memory and Concentration,
Autonomic Nervous System, Vision, Peripheral Numbness,
Sensory-Motor, Chemical Sensitivity, Emotionality. Three
symptom categories were within normal limits--Hearing,
Balance, and Smell-Taste.
Teresa Hansen of Laurel Hill, Florida is another
grandmother who is concerned about the health of her grand-
children, who were exposed to the pollutants in sewage
sludge.
In an impassioned letter to the Secretary of the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection, she asked for help
because as she wrote "By the time we find someone who cares
enough, who knows what damages will have occurred to the tiny
systems of my grand-children?"
Excerpts from her letter show her frustration when she
tries to get protection for her grand-children:
Dear Secretary Virginia Wetherall,
I am sending this letter and video to you in the
hopes that someone out there will care enough to stop
what is happening in our area. Waste-water residuals
[sewage sludge] are being applied improperly to the
lands in our area. Residual run-off has contaminated the
total yard belonging to my daughter and her young
family. The children have had numerous disorders
including abnormal levels of protein, bilirubin, and
lead in their bloodwork. My 7 year old granddaughter has
had fecal samples tested (at the insistence of my
daughter) by the local health department. The fecal test
results have come back with the parasite, Blastocytitis
Hominis, present in my granddaughter's system.
We understand this to be a parasite originating
from human feces, and not usually found as a parasite
problem in this country. My daughter is a very health
conscious, clean person who trys to practice preventive
health measures. Neither the family or the children have
been out of the country to contract this parasite. We
have exhausted any and all chain of command agencies in
our area. The Department of Environmental Protection, at
all turns, has upheld the workings of the man applying
the waste materials.
My daughter's home sits in the middle of about 600
acres of what is apparently a sludge application site.
They did not know this when they bought their home. No
notification was provided to them of what was being
spread around them. However, the owner of the farm that
applies the sludge did know that people lived there with
small children, and he applied the sludge right up to
their fence line for months until asked not to apply it
so close to their property. Until information was
discovered by my daughter and her husband of the dangers
of contact with the sludge materials, the family dog was
not leashed, and would occasionally roll in the
adjoining fields where sludge was applied. Now, the
family pet has lost urinary tract control, and has been
tested with extremely high levels of protein in her
system, which is obvious when the liver and kidneys are
no longer able to filter the poisons from the body.
The local health department official tells me that one
family incident where a whole family has disorders never
before experienced does not constitute enough evidence
for there to be a health concern of enough magnitude to
allow them to become involved in searching for possible
public health hazards. The DEP does not seem to care,
the health department, I feel, is being pressured by the
DEP to not get involved in sludge matters; our State
Representative has not replied with any favorable answer
to the private health issues or the environmental effect
issues in regards to the possibility of contamination by
sludge materials.
Teresa Hansen's daughter and her family were and are
being exposed to unknown levels of unknown disease organisms
that have run off the sludge site in rainwater.The indicator
coliform bacteria recovered on their front drive and the
front of their porch was 160,000 vs the "safe" level of 2,400
per 100ML (100 grams) for surface water contamination. While
EPA has established a supposedly "safe" level of 1,000
coliform bacteria per gram of sludge (100,000 per 100ML),
neither the EPA nor the Statesï have established a standard
for a "safe" enforceable level of disease organisms in soil
as indicated by the coliform bacteria test.
Unlike the Zanders and Teresa Hansen's daughter and her
family, who were the victims of land application of sewage
sludge, other residents in both urban and rural communities
across the nation have suffered and are suffering adverse
health effects from exposure to pollutants from composting
and pelletizing of sludge and waste. Composting is the waste
disposal process which allows waste to decompose or rot.
Composting is supposed to destroy the disease causing
organisms. Pelletizing is composted sludge that is made into
pellets for fertilizer.
In a letter to Kenneth Olden, the Director of the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Dr.
Jordan A. Fink, Professor of Medicine, Chief, Allergy-
Immunology Division of the Medical College of Wisconsin and
Dr. Melvin Kramer, an environmental and infectious disease
epidemiologist wrote of their concern that "municipal and
commercial composting is now being carried out on a
nationwide basis...despite the fact that the implications of
composting for the health of surrounding community residents
have never been thoroughly studied." They wrote: It is clear
that composting causes serious health-related problems for
compost workers including an excess of nasal, ear, and skin
infections, burning eyes and skin irritation, increased
fungal colonies, and higher white blood cell counts and
hemolytic complement." According to them, "It is reasonable
to assume that surrounding communities (exposed to the
facility 24 hours a day, rather than the 8-hour work day) are
also adversely affected, and anecdotal evidence indicates
that may be the case." (p. 1)
Dr. Fink and Dr. Kramer's concern about the possibility
of adverse health effects to communities surrounding a
compost site is well-founded. Both urban and rural
communities across the country are reporting illnesses
associated by their nearness to a composting facility. To
mention just a few: Almaden, California in the West, Islip
Township and South Bronx in New York in the East, and
Franklin, Kentucky in the South. Information on the adverse
health effects suffered by residents in these selected
communities was obtained from personal interviews,
correspondence and newspaper articles. EPA's risk
assessments, using mathematical models, present abstract
figures (e.g., 1 in 10,000) of how many people will be
affected from exposure to sludge and sludge products.
These victims are not abstract faceless, bodyless
figures generated by a computer, they are living human beings
who have suffered from their exposure to sewage sludge. They
are somebody's wife or husband, mother or father, sister or
brother, aunt or uncle, niece or nephew, grandmother or
grandfather or dear friend. They are someone's children or
grand-children. They live in the city, the country or the
suburbs.
Almaden, California
The residents in Almaden, a once healthy middle-class
community in south San Jose, first noticed the terrible
odors, then residents began to develop an array of health
problems: skin rashes, respiratory and sinus problems,
asthma, joint pains, dizziness, and severe headaches. The
culprit--a municipal open air composting plant that was
releasing mold spores into the air. Not only were residents
of Almaden affected but schools were as well. Children and
faculty of The Los Gatos Christian Church School, which was
approximately 1000 feet from the compost facility,
experienced a remarkable increase in the number of upper
respiratory and sinus problems.
One of these Almaden residents is Jane Lilly-Hersley.
Jane is an attractive middle-aged woman of medium build with
auburn hair and brown eyes who is very outgoing and
independent. She is a Registered Nurse. During the Vietnam
War, she worked in a Medivac Hospital in Japan. She was a
Surgical Intensive Care Nurse until twelve years ago when she
accepted a high level position at Roche Research in
California conducting clinical trials in areas of infectious
disease, Immunology, AIDs and organ transplantation.
Jane is married to Dennis Hersley, a tall (6' 2") lean,
middle-aged man with a short salt and pepper beard. He is a
chemist and computer consultant. They have three beautiful
daughters, Cary, who is twenty-two years old, Laura who is
twenty years old and Claire who is eighteen years old. The
oldest, slender-built golden brown-haired Cary, at 5 feet 9
inches is the tallest of the three daughters. Cary is
interested in becoming a researcher. Middle daughter, Laura,
is a petite five foot 4 inch; she has medium brown to auburn
hair. Laura wants to be a lawyer to fight against injustice.
The youngest, dark brown-haired and dark-brown-eyed Claire,
is also five foot four inches tall. Claire wants to be a
researcher or a veterinarian. Everyone in the family has
been adversely affected by the pollutant contamination in the
air from the compost plant. After appeals to the city
provided no action, Jane and Dennis helped form a grass roots
organization called Citizens United for Responsible
Environmentalism (CURE).
Excerpts from a personal letter Jane wrote to her former
doctor describes vividly what she and her family and
neighbors were experiencing because of their proximity to the
compost facility:
Even as I now write this story down on paper, an
aura of unreality surrounds me. Half of my mind feels
this situation is science fiction, that this weird
situation cannot really be happening. Yet I too am ill,
and have tested IgG positive to fungal pathogens with
blood levels that frighten me.
The nature of the environment we were living in at
that time is hard to describe. One could not walk
outdoors and take a breath without gagging and retching.
Reports of these sickening odors came from as far away
as 5 miles. My sinus problems worsened terribly. My
children were ill. My husband who has an inherited eye
problem, Cogen's dystrophy, experienced 11 corneal
erosions within a 6 week period. On nights when the
stench was particularly acute, our animals became ill.
Our two cats developed diarrhea and vomiting, fur loss,
and behavioral changes. They were reluctant to go
outdoors. The baleful howl of the neighborhood dogs was
a nightly serenade.
In the meantime we were hearing complaints from
other residents affected by the odors. Complaints ranged
from many minor physical irritations, headaches, sinus
infections, skin rashes, sleeping difficulties, ear and
eye irritations, to more troublesome ones, such as
bronchitis, and yet more serious ones, intractable
asthma and pneumonia. For those residents who sought
medical treatment for their complaints, some recovered
very slowly, requiring extended treatment to achieve
relief from their symptoms. In other instances
individuals sought medical treatment but presented
baffling cases to their doctors who were unable to
effectively treat their conditions.
Although many doctors refused to get involved, they were
able to enlist the help of Dr. Vincent Marinkovich, who had
been treating a family with three cases of colonization by
aspergillus, one a ten year old child who was seriously ill.
Dr. Marinkovich, who is in his 60s, is of medium build, 5'
10" tall, with salt and pepper hair. Jane describes him as "a
man ahead of his time". She says, "he is a very gentle,
compassionate man who has a unique scientific mind. He is a
creative thinker who will consider other ideas besides what
is in the book."
Dr. Marinkovich is a medical doctor with Board
certification in pediatrics and in allergy immunology. He is
a clinical associate professor at Stanford University Medical
School. He is an expert in his field having spent almost
twenty years treating lung disease both at Stanford and in
his private practice. He spent a year studying in England
with professor Jack Pepys at the Brompton Cardiothoracic
Institute in London. Professor Pepys was world renowned for
his work in the area of hypersensitivity lung diseases. Most
of these lung diseases were known to be caused by inhalation
of spores.
To gather information on the illnesses suffered by the
residents, Dr. Marinkovich and CURE conducted a survey of the
affected residents and tested their blood. Seventy eight
adults and 117 school-aged children were surveyed and the
blood of 266 residents was tested for IgG antibodies in the
blood using the MAST test. This test measures the normal
immune system response (IgG antibody levels) to significant
exposure to various substances, including the environmental
molds aspergillus, alternaria, cladosperium and penicillum.
The higher the antibody level, the more significant the
exposure to the individual immune system. The survey showed a
considerable increase in illness above what was expected
under normal conditions and over what was the norm before the
composting was started. When the blood levels of the
residents living near the compost facility were compared with
those of residents living several miles away, the residents
living near the compost had high IgG and antibody levels to
Aspergillus, that appears to thrive in compost. According to
Dr. Marinkovich:
Aspergillus is a well-known human pathogen. It is the
scourge of the modern hospital in that its control is
difficult. It kills patients with diminished immunity
and can cause serious illnesses in exposed individuals
who are otherwise normal. Some species produce
aflatoxin, the most potent cancer-producing chemical
known, bar none. Its optimal growth temperature is 37
degrees centigrade, which is human body temperature. It
easily colonizes damaged human tissues such as sinuses
and lungs. Once established, it is very difficult to
eradicate. (p. 3 of statement for CURE)
Dr. Marinkovich stated unequivocally in his
Statement on the Health Hazards from Bioaerosals
Generated By Compost/Sludge Waste Treatment Using
Biological Method that, "As one of the physicians who
personally examined and tested many of the patients who
reside in the valley, I have no doubts about the serious
health hazard of chronic fungal spore dissemination over
a residential area."
When the information from the survey and blood tests
were compiled and presented to the City and State by CURE, no
action was taken to help them. According to Jane "Neither the
City nor the State health office has assumed responsibility
for the risk residents are being exposed to. Passing the buck
from department to department is the course of action they
have elected to follow." She adds further:
I find it incredible that in the face of our complaints,
no health study or risk assessment is being undertaken
by the health agencies of our state. Governmental
agencies are in fact continuing to open new operations
across the bay area without the proper and necessary
scientific study required to determine safety. I fear
dire consequences may result before government
recognizes the folly of recklessly implementing
technologies that are inadequately researched...There is
a problem in Almaden. We need someone to pay attention,
and we need help to find some answers.
When Jane Lily-Hersley conducted a nationwide inquiry to
learn if other communities had been adversely affected
healthwise from composting or other sludge treatment
processes, she found that in the township of Islip, New York,
the residents were experiencing health effects similar to
Almaden residents. A municipal composting facility was
started there in 1987. Since its inception, residents near
the facility were complaining of the terrible odors.
Illnesses were increasing especially asthma in children.
When Jane contacted The New York State Department of
Health, who was soon to release the results of their study of
illnesses at Islip, she was provided, off the record, with
preliminary information confirming the presence of pathogenic
fungi in tremendous concentrations, when compared to
background levels, at the compost site, and as far as 1/2
mile downwind from the facility. These organisms included a
predominance of aspergillus, as well as mucor, penicillium,
alternaria, cladosporium, and thermophilic actinocmycetes.
(Jane Lily-Hersley on p. 5 of her personal letter to her
doctor)
Harry Dobin, who worked 1000 feet away from a compost
site in Islip for 5 years, died from aspergillosis. In
excerpts from his poignant letter, Kenneth Dobin, tells of
his son's terrible suffering and death:
From July 1991 until January 1992, the doctors
treated him for asthma, arthritis, Weggener's disease,
Lyme disease, kidney disorder, and bronchitis. Finally
in January 1992, when he could no longer breath, they
performed an open lung biopsy and discovered this fungus
called aspergillosis had invaded his lungs. But, after
being exposed for such a long period of time to this
compost site, which is a natural breeding ground for
this fungus, which took over my son's entire body. No
antibiotic could stop this fungus. Every time the
doctors thought he was cured, it showed up somewhere
else in his body.
First his lungs, then he had an aneurism, then in his
spine, then in his legs (which they wanted to amputate).
After 15 months, this fungus destroyed him completely.
It finally went to his heart valve and at that time the
doctors decided not to remove his legs or replace the
heart valve, but we should make him as comfortable as
possibly and let Harry pass on and end his suffering.
On September 23, 1992, five days after the fungus
invaded his heart valve and legs, Harry died.
From January 1992 until his death, Harry was
hospitalized for the most horrible illness imaginable. I
will never forget his suffering.
New York City
In a South Bronx community in New York City, the faculty
and children of P.S. 48 experienced headaches, sore throats,
nausea, sinus congestion, runny eyes, nosebleeds, tight
chests and asthma. More than a quarter of the 1100 students
had asthma and were frequently hospitalized. Forty-seven
percent of one first grade class had asthma and thirty-three
percent had been hospitalized. The school is located five
blocks from a pelletization plant which processes New York
City sludge into Class A sludge fertilizer. A terrible stench
emanated from the plant causing nausea and upset stomachs.
Within fifteen yards of the school, uncovered trucks
transported foul-smelling sludge (containing live disease
causing organisms, toxic organic chemicals and toxic heavy
metals) from the treatment plants to the pelletization plant
everyday.
The plant is owned by the New York Organic Fertilizer
Company (NYOFCO), which is a subsidiary of Whellabrator,
which in turn, is a subsidiary of Solid Waste Management of
Illinois, the biggest waste conglomerate in the nation.
I am personally acquainted with one of the teachers at
PS 48. Unfortunately, which says something for free speech
in the United States today, I can not reveal her identity
because she fears reprisal. She has already been demoted once
because of her activities to stop the pollution that has made
so many of them ill. Although I can't mention her real name,
I can tell you that Ms. X is one of the most dedicated and
caring teachers, who wants to make a positive difference in
the lives of her students, that I have ever met. The first
time I met her I was touched by her heart-wrenching account
of the situation at PS 48 where so many children, day after
day, were suffering from a range of symptoms--burning eyes,
coughing, nausea, stomach cramps, nosebleeds, sore throats,
and asthma. She said she had to do something. She couldn't
stand by and ignore the silent unspoken pleas in their sad
little eyes asking for someone to do something to make it
better.
Ms. X has worked tirelessly in the children's cause.
Working with Jane Lilly-Hersley of Almaden, she organized a
branch of CURE. When she wrote as an individual to various
regulatory agencies (City and State) protesting the situation
at PS 48, her letters were ignored. It wasn't until she sent
letters with the CURE letterhead that her letters were even
answered. All of her activities and those of several other
teachers, and some parents who were fighting the air
pollution proved to be of no avail; no one in any position of
authority in the City or State would help them. It wasn't
until United States Representative Jose Serrano of New York
became involved in their struggle that anything was done to
alleviate the distressing situation at PS 48. When
Representative Serrano held a hearing at the school and
learned the extent of the adverse health effects the students
were experiencing there, he was appalled. In a personal
interview, Rep. Serrano told Jack Newfield of the New York
Post that he was taking immediate action to remedy the
appalling situation. According to Newfield, Serrano was
asking the federal EPA to test the air around PS 48. He also
wanted a court injunction to stop the pollution. Several
articles were written by the New York Post which aptly
portrayed the situation at PS 48 in Hunts Point. In a follow
up to his February 13th article, Jack Newfield on February
16th wrote a hardhitting article entitled "Something Stinks
in Hunts Pt." in which he told about two scandals in the
South Bronx. The first scandal was the accelerated asthma
rate (32%) among the students of PS 48 which was within a
mile of more than 40 sludge, sewage and garbage disposal
facilities. The second scandal was the inactivity of the city
and state environmental and health agencies who appeared
unwilling to test the air quality around the school to
discover what it contained that was causing the asthma
epidemic. Newfield ends his article with the admonition to
the federal EPA, the mayor and the governor to step in, take
decisive action and end the buck-passing that had been going
on, before a child dies from asthma.
Someone finally paid attention. In a conversation with
Ms. X, she told me that the health of the children and
faculty had improved since NYOFCO was forced to install an
air control device totaling 1.6 million dollars. The plant
also replaced the foul-smelling air with the smell of
cinnamon, lilac or almond. The sludge hauling trucks are also
no longer permitted to drive on the streets near the school.
Unfortunately, now the residents of Hunts Point have to fight
a new threat. A Marine Transfer Station is to be built there
to receive the sludge coming in by barges.
Franklin, Kentucky
In Franklin, Kentucky, 131 neighbors, who lived around
the Triple M. Landfarm, which in July 1997 began composting
385 tons of sludge from Nashville, Tennessee and six other
cities, have become ill. Symptoms of the residents include
vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, lack of appetite, fatigue,
headaches, respiratory problems, dizzy spells, sinus
problems, and muscle aches. Several residents have infected
fly bites from the flies that have been attracted to the
compost pile. The leader of the group of neighbors, who have
been trying to stop the composting, is Bonnie Swayze. Bonnie
and her family live on the farm that has been in their family
since 1891. She is an attractive middle-aged medium build
woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She is married to 5'
11", 200 lb. Bruce Swayze who has brown eyes and grey hair.
They have two sons, Bo and Billy. Both boys are tall and
slim. Bo, who is thirteen, and Billy, who is ten, both have
brown hair and hazel eyes. These usually healthy, energetic
boys have been suffering from fatigue and repeated bouts of
diarrhea. Billy also developed a staph infection due to fly
bites.
Bonnie and Bruce are both suffering from fatigue. Bruce
also has joint and muscle pains. Like her sons, Bonnie has
bouts of diarrhea. Her other symptoms include sore throat,
blisters on the tongue and fly bites.
Like those in other parts of the country, who have tried
to stop the composting, pelletizing and land application of
sewage sludge that have made people ill, particularly
children, Bonnie and her neighbors met with the same
indifferent treatment by regulatory agencies. The State
epidemiologist, who was sent to investigate the problem and
who said it would take months to do the study, has never
returned. The State Health Director, who attended one of
their meetings, and listened to their complaints about the
adverse health problems they were experiencing, told them
that he was directed by the Governor to close down the
compost site but he couldn't do it without documented proof
of their health problems. Two doctors at the meeting said
they could verify the health problems Bonnie and her family
and neighbors were experiencing. He left and the compost
facility is still in operation.
Although sludge brought in from out of state was
stopped, in state sludge is still being transported to the
compost facility and the neighbors are still getting sick.
To add insult to injury, Bonnie and her neighbors, who have
suffered ill effects from the composting, are being sued by
the sludge hauler for interfering with his business.
What has happened in Almaden, Islip, the South Bronx,
Franklin, and other communities over the United States was no
surprise to Dr. Melvin Kramer who unequivocally pointed out
in an executive summary of October 1, 1992, the harm to
communities from composting and pelletization of sludge. He
says:
Therefore, this methodology of de-watering and
composting sludge and pelletization will pose a
significant health hazard to the population in general,
but especially to the elderly, children, and the infirm,
both in terms of nuisances as exemplified by excessive
putrid odors and minor allergic reactions in the general
healthy population (such as runny noses, itchy and runny
eyes, sore throats and coughs) to life threatening
diseases (such as invasive Aspergillosis, especially in
immunocompromised persons who have such disease entities
as cancer or leukemia, who have had bone marrow or organ
transplants, or who are positive for the human
immunodeficiency virus or who have clinical AIDS.
Furthermore, of the 10%-15% of the general population
who are asthmatic, Aspergillus will exacerbate and cause
asthmatic attacks and, in a small minority, will cause a
condition which is most severe called Allergic
Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis, {ABPA}.
What happened to the Zanders, the residents of Almaden,
Islip, South Bronx, and Franklin could happen to you or your
family. We are all potential victims of sewage sludge. It
matters not where we live. Whether we reside in the country,
a large city, the suburbs or a small town, we are not
protected from exposure to it. According to a 1995 paper
entitled "The Biosolids (Sludge) Treatment, Beneficial Use,
and Disposal Situation in the USA" by Robert K. Bastian of
the Office of Wastewater Management of the EPA, there will be
more exposure to sludge in the future. He says:
A wide range of land application practices for
beneficially recycling biosolids {sewage sludge} have
been investigated and employed to date, including
application to many urban parks and golf courses,
cropland, rangeland, forests, and a variety of disturbed
and marginally productive areas (e.g., stripmined areas,
construction sites, etc.). Land application projects
are underway involving biosolids from many large
metropolitan areas (including Washington, D.C., New York
City, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Chicago, Milwaukee,
Minneapolis, St. Paul, Denver, Albuquerque, Seattle,
Portland, and Los Angeles) as well as thousands of
smaller cities and towns across the U.S., especially in
the Midwest. (p. 3)
If you live in the country, your next-door farm neighbor
could be putting sludge on his field which could run-off and
contaminate your wellwater, air and crops as happened with
the Zanders. Like Teresa Hansen's daughter you might
unknowingly buy a house next to a sludge site where your
property could become contaminated and your children
endangered. You could even buy a sludge site for your next
home without knowing it.
The next pelletizing or composting facility could be put
in your neighborhood (rural or urban). According to Bastian:
The most recent Biocycle survey found a total of 330
biosolids {sludge} composting projects in operation or
development--228 full-scale operating facilities, 9
under construction, and 89 either pilot projects or
projects still in permitting design and planning stages.
There are also at least 16 full-scale operating thermal
drying/pelletizing facilities and another 5 in startup,
under construction or in the permitting, design and
planning stages. In addition, there are a growing number
(currently 35-50 in operation or under development) of
alkaline stabilization facilities being established in
various parts of the U.S. that produce a product
acceptable [to EPA] for use as an agricultural lime
substitute, organic fertilizer, or as an artificial soil
for daily or final landfill cover, dike construction,
etc. (p. 4)
If you or your family become victims, you will learn, as
have countless other victims, that your local, state and
federal regulatory agencies will do nothing to help you. We
are all potential victims and will continue to be because the
EPA, who is supposed to protect our health and the
environment, is actively promoting a beneficial sludge use
policy propelled by a highly visible public relations
campaign which will ensure that there are more and more
victims. The disturbing fact is that the wastewater division
of the EPA in its promotion of sewage sludge as a fertilizer
has entered into an alliance with the very industry waste
management, that it is supposed to regulate.
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