Reading Response -- Sewage Sludge in Oilweek

Sludge You Buddy, and Sludge Your Friends Too!


Recent news at Oilweek reports that Canadian Agriculture will probably see a decline in Ontario’s agriculture stock trading points. Reported illnesses associated with their methods of crop fertilization have been growing in numbers. When one farmer was asked about the illnesses that her and her family were experiencing she expressed concern for her livestock that were exhibiting similar illnesses including blood, bladder and urinary tract infections, chronic coughing, vomiting, and diarrhea. Another medical case associated with Ontario’s agriculture includes dairy cows producing milk that contains high levels of Valium.

Oilweek found that Canada’s crop fertilizers are to blame. To alleviate the high costs of using commercial fertilizers, the Canadian government has been giving city sewage sludge to farmers, free of cost, for use as crop fertilizer. The sludge is a combination of household and industrial waste. 120,000 tons of it is spread across 150 square kilometers of Canadian farmland. The government stresses that using sewage sludge in this way is economically beneficial to farmers. They also stress that as long as their standards are met there should be no hazardous toxins in the sludge.

The rash of medical reports linking several different illnesses to one source is evidence that standards are not being met. Oilweek’s writer brings an important issue to light by determining that the current practice of using sewage sludge as fertilizer is toxic to farmers, animals, and plant life. The evidence they present focuses on using government to ban the practice until better controls are put into place. However, they do not give us their opinion. Instead we are lead through the evidence and asked to make our own determinations. Overwhelming evidence supports a ban, but as reported the government believes industry will regulate itself.