Sludge fertilizer program spurs concerns

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

BALTIMORE - Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients.

Nine low-income families in Baltimore row houses agreed to let researchers till the sewage sludge into their yards and plant new grass. In exchange, they were given food coupons as well as the free lawns as part of a study published in 2005 and funded by the Housing and Urban Development Department.

The Associated Press reviewed grant documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and interviewed researchers. No one involved with the $446,231 grant for the two-year study would identify the participants, citing privacy concerns. There is no evidence there was ever any medical follow-up.

Comparable research was conducted by the Agriculture Department and Environmental Protection Agency in a similarly poor, black neighborhood in East St. Louis, Ill.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_sc/sludge_poisoned_land;_ylt=At7X7_IfhFFO5JSrQB.6ChCs0NUE

[Bozita]

1. Food coupons'll do it every time. Hunger hurts.

Anybody think they volunteered for the free lawn?

[izquierdista]

2. I don't know where to start

Kids eating dirt? Yes, they all go through that phase at some age, but is it really necessary to study the nutritional quality of dirt and try to improve it?

Sewage sludge? Yes, better ways to recycle it through the biosphere are desirable, but is it really necessary to bribe poor people to test it out?

Lead paint? Wasn't that phased out decades ago and haven't remediation programs been in place for years to mitigate the problem? Is there that much flaking off of 40 year old paint jobs that it has leached into the soil around houses and turned them into mini Superfund sites?

Whoever wrote up the proposal for this study is deserving of the "What the fuck are you trying to do?!?" award.

[Muttocracy]

7. lead paint is still a problem

The paint flakes from deterioriating siding, paint dust from windows, and old paint dust in the soil near the house where kids play can all cause exposure.

Lead was banned from paint in the 1970s but it wouldn't surprise me if at housing projects old stocks of paint continued to be used, the buildings have barely been painted since then, or the outer layers of low-lead paint have flaked off by now and exposed the underlying leaded paint. Lead is naturally occurring in soils but you can see elevated lead levels from leaded gasoline and lead paint for decades.

Lead paint removal is a huge and expensive ordeal - and unless you do it right you can make matters worse (creating dust which is easily inhaled).

http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/healthyhomes/lead.cfm

All of which makes dumping heavy-metal-laden sludge into urban yards even stranger! :wtf:

[onethatcares]

3. I got an idea, let's spread that shit on

the gated community lawns in Orlando. We'll even give the people that get the shitlawns a coupon to their choice of restaraunt on International Drive.

[Arctic Dave]

4. I don't think this could get anymore racist and classist.

This "scientist" is overseeing WTC patients? Anyone care to wager a bet that this guy doesn't ever find anything wrong with his "patients".I smell scam so bad my eyes are burning.

[lligrd]

5. We Should Be Up In Arms Over This

and yet it will probably receive scant attention.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "Eat shit and die." - Republicon-inspired "scientists"

[OKthatsIT]

8. (shakes head)...you guys are just now figurin this out?

where ya been?

[fed-up]

9. for those that want further reading try-"Toxic Sludge is Good For You"

http://used.addall.com/SuperRare/submitRare.cgi?author=&title=toxic+sludge+is+good+for+you&keyword=&isbn=&order=PRICE&ordering=ASC&dispCurr=USD&binding=Softcover&min=&max=&timeout=20&match=Y&store=Abebooks&store=Alibris&store=Amazon&store=Antiqbook&store=Biblio&store=Biblion&store=Bibliophile&store=Bibliopoly&store=Half&store=ILAB&store=LivreRareBook&store=Powells&store=Strandbooks&store=ZVAB

Toxic Sludge Is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
by Stauber, John/Rampton, Sheldon/Dowie, Mark
Common Courage Press 1995-09 Paperback

who also wrote
http://used.addall.com/SuperRare/submitRare.cgi?author=john+C.+Stauber+&title=&keyword=&isbn=&order=PRICE&ordering=ASC&dispCurr=USD&binding=Softcover&min=&max=&timeout=20&match=Y&store=Abebooks&store=Alibris&store=Amazon&store=Antiqbook&store=Biblio&store=Biblion&store=Bibliophile&store=Bibliopoly&store=Half&store=ILAB&store=LivreRareBook&store=Powells&store=Strandbooks&store=ZVAB


Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?-Common Courage Pr, Monroe, Maine, U.S.A.
Mad Cow U.S.A.: Updated to Cover the Arrival of Mad Cow Disease-Common Courage Press 2003

Trust Us, We're Experts!: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future - Jeremy P Tarcher , 2002

Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War in Iraq- Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, NY, 2003

Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing Is Turning America into a One-Party State- J P Tarcher 2004

The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned LIes and the Mess in Iraq-Tarcher, 2006