Sierra Blanca Sludge Field to Shut Down

Source: El Paso Times, June 19, 2001 In Toxic Sludge Is Good For You we described a PR campaign to rename sewage sludge as "biosolids" so that it could be used as fertilizer. We also detailed the implementation of this plan by New York City, which began shipping its sludge in 1992 to help "fertilize" Sierra Blanca, a tiny, impoverished town in Texas. Now New York has cancelled its sludge disposal contract, but will leave behind the world's largest sludge field. "A minimum of 250 tons per day and a maximum of 400 tons a day was flung over the surface of the registered 81,000 acre land application area," notes Sierra Blanca resident Bill Addington, an opponent of the sludge operation. "An example of the heavy metal contamination is there is one pure pound of lead to every ton of NYC 'biosolids.' So 10 pounds of pure lead per year was spread over nearly every acre of the application area. This is but one example, as every chemical and metal known to man exists in the toxic material they call 'biosolids.' Yes, PCBs, a lot of dioxin, banned pesticides, every heavy metal, pathogens, viruses, etc., etc. ... We will continue to have to live with the many thousands of tons of non-biodegradeable sewage resting over the surface of these dumping grounds at Sierra Blanca. ... May god and mother earth forgive them, as many were blinded by the love of money."