3 months ago
2
St. Clair County residents fear free fertilizer 'sludge' could come with serious health issues
COMING UP. JASON, THANKS SO MUCH. SOME SAINT CLAIR COUNTY RESIDENTS SAY THAT THEY’RE CONCERNED THAT THEIR GROUNDWATER IS BEING CONTAMINATED WITH THE SLUDGE BEING GIVEN TO NEARBY FARMERS TO FERTILIZE THEIR FIELDS IS CAUSING QUITE A STINK. LITERALLY. WVTM 13 S LISA CRANE LIVE IN OAKLAND, SAINT CLAIR COUNTY. WHAT IS THIS SLUDGE? LISA. THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION, GUYS. I KNOW WE’VE BEEN WATCHING THIS AFTERNOON. THEY’VE BEEN APPLYING IT TO THE FIELD. YOU SEE RIGHT BEHIND ME HERE. AND WE ACTUALLY REACHED OUT TO THE COMPANY THAT’S NOT ONLY SUPPLYING IT FOR FREE, BUT EVEN APPLYING IT TO THE FIELDS FOR FREE. WE ASKED THEM FOR COMMENT, BUT WE HAVEN’T HEARD BACK YET. A RESIDENT WHO LIVES NEAR HERE, WHO IS ALSO A WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, SAYS IT IS A DANGEROUS MIXTURE OF TREATED HUMAN AND ANIMAL WASTE, ALONG WITH INDUSTRIAL WASTE. THE SEMI TRUCKS FULL OF THE SLUDGE ARE TRAVELING. THESE COUNTRY ROADS IN SAINT CLAIR COUNTY NONSTOP, ACCORDING TO RESIDENTS HERE THEY HAUL ALMOST 7000 GALLONS OF THE PRODUCT IN AT A TIME, WHICH IS THEN APPLIED TO FIELDS AS A FERTILIZER. A MIXTURE OF CHEMICALS STARTING WITH HUMAN SLUDGE, HUMAN WASTE, ANYTHING THAT’S INVOLVED IN HUMAN WASTE PROCESSING IS IN THE IN THE MIX. THEN WE GO TO AGRICULTURAL WASTE, WHICH INCLUDES ANY PROCESSING PLANTS THAT HAVE CHICKENS, CATTLE, WHATEVER THE LEFTOVERS ARE, OAKMAN SAYS. IT’S ALSO MIXED WITH INDUSTRIAL WASTE. HE SAYS FARMERS ARE USING IT BECAUSE FERTILIZERS ARE EXPENSIVE AND THIS PRODUCT IS BEING OFFERED FOR FREE. EVEN THE DELIVERY AND APPLICATION ALL FREE, AND ALL OF US ARE OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT YOU CAN’T GET ANYTHING FOR FREE WITHOUT EVENTUALLY HAVING TO PAY FOR IT. HECKMAN FEARS THE SLUDGE CONTAINS HEAVY METALS AND FOREVER CHEMICALS LIKE PFAS, WHICH CAN BE DANGEROUS TO ANIMALS AND HUMANS. HE SAYS IT’S CONTAMINATING NOT JUST THE FIELDS, BUT THE GROUNDWATER AS WELL. WE’RE FINDING A LOT OF DEAD DEER DEAD TURKEYS, DEAD WILDLIFE AROUND THIS AREA, BASICALLY FROM THIS SLUDGE RELATED ACTIVITY. AFTER THE SLUDGE IS APPLIED, HECKMAN SAYS, COWS WILL GRAZE ON THE GRASS THAT’S GROWING IN THESE FIELDS. THEN THE BEEF WILL END UP IN GROCERY STORES AND EVENTUALLY ON SOMEONE’S TABLE. HE’S PUSHING TO CHANGE LAWS TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING, BUT HE KNOWS IT’S A LONG PROCESS. SAINT CLAIR IS NOT UNIQUE TO ANY OTHER COUNTY IN THE STATE. WE’VE GOT TO CHANGE THE LAWS STATEWIDE, AND ADAM’S GOT TO BE ON BOARD. NOW WE ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR A COMMENT AND HAVE NOT HEARD BACK FROM THEM EITHER. IN THE MEANTIME, THOUGH, HECKMAN SAYS THEY’RE HOLDING A PUBLIC MEETING WITH THE COOSA RIVERKEEPER COMING UP ON NOVEMBER 12TH IN ASHVILLE. IT’S OPEN TO EVERYONE, AND THEY’RE HOPING TO GET SOME MORE INPUT ON WHAT THIS MIGHT BE DOING TO THE ENVIRONMENT AT THAT
GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS
The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.
St. Clair County residents fear free fertilizer 'sludge' could come with serious health issues
Some St. Clair County residents say they're concerned their groundwater is being contaminated with a sludge being given to nearby farmers to fertilize their fields. It's causing quite a stink — literally. So, what’s in this sludge? We reached out to the company supplying it, but we haven't heard back. Some residents say it's a dangerous mixture of treated human and animal waste along with industrial waste.The semitrailers full of the sludge are traveling the country roads in St. Clair County nonstop, according to residents. They haul almost 7000 gallons of the product in at a time, which is then applied to fields as a fertilizer. Resident Derrick Heckman said, “It’s a mixture of chemicals, starting with human sludge, human waste, anything that's involved in human waste processing is in the in the mix. Then we go to agriculture waste, which includes any processing plants that have chickens, cattle, whatever the leftovers are.” He said it's also mixed with industrial waste and farmers are using it because fertilizers are expensive and this product is being offered for free, even the delivery and application along with the manpower, is all free of charge. Heckman said, “This fertilizer here is being offered for free. And all of us are old enough to know that you can't get anything for free without eventually having to pay for it.” Heckman, who is a wildlife biologist, fears the sludge contains heavy metals and forever chemicals like PFAS, which can be dangerous to animals and humans. He said it's contaminating not just the fields but the groundwater as well. “We're finding a lot of dead deer, dead turkeys, dead wildlife around this area. Basically, from this sludge-related activity.”After the sludge is applied, Heckman told us, cows will graze on the grass, then the beef will end up in grocery stores and eventually on someone's table. He's pushing to change laws to prevent it, but he knows it's a long process. He said, “St. Clair is not unique to any other county in the state. We've got to change the law statewide and ADEM’s got to be on board.”We reached out to the company that's bringing in the sludge and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, but so far we haven't heard back from either one. In the meantime, Heckman said they're holding a community meeting with the Coosa Riverkeeper on Nov. 12 to learn more about how this could affect the environment.
St. Clair County, AL —
Some St. Clair County residents say they're concerned their groundwater is being contaminated with a sludge being given to nearby farmers to fertilize their fields. It's causing quite a stink — literally. So, what’s in this sludge? We reached out to the company supplying it, but we haven't heard back. Some residents say it's a dangerous mixture of treated human and animal waste along with industrial waste.
The semitrailers full of the sludge are traveling the country roads in St. Clair County nonstop, according to residents. They haul almost 7000 gallons of the product in at a time, which is then applied to fields as a fertilizer.
Resident Derrick Heckman said, “It’s a mixture of chemicals, starting with human sludge, human waste, anything that's involved in human waste processing is in the in the mix. Then we go to agriculture waste, which includes any processing plants that have chickens, cattle, whatever the leftovers are.” He said it's also mixed with industrial waste and farmers are using it because fertilizers are expensive and this product is being offered for free, even the delivery and application along with the manpower, is all free of charge.
Heckman said, “This fertilizer here is being offered for free. And all of us are old enough to know that you can't get anything for free without eventually having to pay for it.” Heckman, who is a wildlife biologist, fears the sludge contains heavy metals and forever chemicals like PFAS, which can be dangerous to animals and humans. He said it's contaminating not just the fields but the groundwater as well. “We're finding a lot of dead deer, dead turkeys, dead wildlife around this area. Basically, from this sludge-related activity.”
After the sludge is applied, Heckman told us, cows will graze on the grass, then the beef will end up in grocery stores and eventually on someone's table. He's pushing to change laws to prevent it, but he knows it's a long process. He said, “St. Clair is not unique to any other county in the state. We've got to change the law statewide and ADEM’s got to be on board.”
We reached out to the company that's bringing in the sludge and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, but so far we haven't heard back from either one. In the meantime, Heckman said they're holding a community meeting with the Coosa Riverkeeper on Nov. 12 to learn more about how this could affect the environment.
English (US)