EPA Proposes to Redefine Sewage Sludge Composts as Organic

Posted 10/04/05

EPA Proposes to Redefine Sludge Composts as Organic <http://www.mofga.org/news20040128.html

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association - Augusta,ME,USA

EPA Proposes to Redefine Sludge Composts as Organic

by Sue Smith-Heavenrich

Copyright 2004 by the author. This article was originally published in Organic Farms, Food & Folks, Winter 2004, published by NOFA-NY. Reprinted with permission.

The U.S. EPA has proposed changes to federal regulations that would lump sewage sludge composts in with organic composts and label them all "compost made from recovered organic materials."

On December 10, 2003, the EPA proposed an amendment to the 1995 Comprehensive Procurement Guideline under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Executive Order "Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition." Specifically, the EPA is asking that the current compost designation be changed to include compost made from sewage sludge or manure. The EPA also wants to consolidate all compost designations under one category: compost made from recovered orAganic materials.

Once the EPA designates an item, any procuring agency that uses federal funds to obtain that item must purchase the item containing the highest percentage of recoverable materials practical. The EPA admits, in its summary, that the purpose of this amendment is to foster markets for materials recovered from solid waste.

"This is a back door attempt to make sludge acceptable after the defeat of inserting it into the organic standards," notes Charlotte Hartman, Coordinator for the National Sludge Alliance. "The EPA and sludge industry will do anything to make sludge appear harmless."

Sludge composts are not appropriate for all uses that non-sludge composts may be used for, such as playgrounds and sports fields. Sludge-based soil amendments may contain significant concentrations of heavy metals, radionuclides, PCBs, dioxins and industrial chemicals. In addition to commercial and industrial waste, the EPA allows landfill leachates and treated Superfund wastes to be disposed of in local treatment plants.

Making Sludge Organic with Word Magic Sludge products are excluded from use in organic agriculture, by regulations under the National Organic Standards. However, the EPA seems to be purposefully muddying the waters in its proposed amendment. In the section titled "Fertilizers Made From Recovered Organic Materials," it states, "Many sources of organic matter are available for the production of organic fertilizers, including plant and animal by-products, manure-based/biosolid products, and rock and mineral powders."

The EPA makes no distinction between organic matter (stuff containing carbon molecules) and Organic material (products allowed by National Organic Standards). In the next breath EPA continues, "Organic fertilizers can be used to replace traditional chemical fertilizers in various applications …" If you know what to look for, a paragraph does refer to the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) and its lists of materials allowed and prohibited for use in organic production. But it ends with, "… a state may prohibit the use of organic fertilizer made with biosolids on agricultural food crops"--even though the National Standards prohibit sludge in organic agriculture.

The next sentence reads, "… as mentioned above, biosolids can be used in the production of organic fertilizer …" and refers to the 503 Rules. Finally, section 247.3 contains a revised definition for organic fertilizer. "Organic fertilizer is a single or blended substance, made from organic matter such as plant and animal by-products, manure-based/biosolid products, and rock and mineral powders …."

EPA Invites Your Comments

You can let the EPA know what you think of its attempt to "greenwash" sludge by calling it organic compost. The EPA is accepting public comments on this proposed rule until February 4, 2004. You may submit your comments by logging onto www.epa.gov/edocket and following the online instructions. This allows you to comment anonymously. Or you may comment by e-mail to . In the subject heading put the docket ID number (RCRA-2003-0005). You may mail comments to: OSWER Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC 20460. Head your comments: Attention Docket ID No. RCRA 2003-0005. The EPA suggests that you explain your views clearly, provide useful data, cite studies or give specific illustrations that back up your views. Then, if you can, offer an alternative.

To read the proposed rule in its entirety, go to Draft comment to the EPA on the proposed redefinition of sewage sludge composts.

Below is a sample response, drafted by Beedy Parker of MOFGA’s Public Policy Committee:

The enormous pressure to dispose of the huge quantities of municipal waste generated by our cities as cheaply as possible should not drive a weakening of the definition of organic compost. As a consumer who wishes to purchase uncontaminated organic food and a citizen with strong environmental concerns, I want to see our land, water and food protected from the long lasting (and sometime biomagnifying) contaminants that can be present in "biosolids" (municipal and other sludges) because of inadequate safety Astandards and insufficient monitoring and oversight.

The pressure should be applied in the opposite direction: back "up the pipe" to the householder, to unregulated smaller factories, institutions, noncompliant industries... The unaware must be educated, the loopholes closed and the community made to understand that contaminating sewage with toxic waste devalues the useful--even essential to sustainability--fertilizer that sewage compost would be if it were made from only human and other animal wwastes.

Our composted sewage sludge should be free of heavy metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons and other industrial chemicals. Let us make it so. We should not pretend it is safe by changing its name.