San Francisco’s Toxic Sludge – It’s Good for You!

Fifteen years ago, CMD’s book
Toxic Sludge Is Good for You! first exposed the hidden government and industry PR campaign greenwashing toxic sewage sludge as “biosolids,” an invented PR euphemism used to cynically re-brand toxic waste as “fertilizer” given free to farmers. Today, unfortunately, the biosolids scam is bigger than ever. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) reports
that “San Francisco has come up with an ingenious plot to trick city
residents into taking their toxic sewage sludge back and disposing of
it in their own gardens. San Francisco is having Synagro, the corporate giant of the toxic sludge industry,
‘compost’ some of the toxic sewage sludge. Then they give it away to
San Francisco’s gardeners telling us it’s ‘high-quality, nutrient-rich,
organic Biosolids Compost.’ ” OCA has launched a grassroots campaign calling on San Francisco’s mayor to stop the practice, noting “municipal sewage sludge
routinely contains thousands of dangerous pathogens, toxic heavy
metals, flame retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens,
pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals coming from
residential drains, storm water runoff, hospitals, and industrial
plants.”