Safe Fertilizer Information Institute

Your source for information about all aspects of waste-derived fertilizers
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Biosolids (aka Sewer Sludge)
Biosolids are classified as 'organic' fertilizer and are regulated under different law than 'synthetic' fertilizers.  The regulations for biosolids are found in The Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, under Part 503, the Biosolids Rule.
 
- National Sludge Alliance home page with links to fact sheets, news, papers, etc. http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/#nsa
- News article, Kent Garber, US News, High Energy Costs Prompt Farmers to Eye Treated Sewage for Fertilizer: Advocates insist it's safe (and often free), but others worry about health and environmental effects, (9/18/08).
- News article, John Heilprin and Kevin S. Vineys, AP Sludge Tested as Lead-Poisoning Fix (4/14/08). Federally funded researchers applied sludge to yards in low-income neighborhoods, allegedly to study whether the sludge decreased children's exposure to lead in the soil although it appears after 2 yrs no medical follow-up was performed.
- National Sludge Alliance, Deception - Deceit - Diversion, NSA Public Fact Sheet 112 (5/1/1997).
- National Sludge Alliance, Hotly-Contested "Nukewaste-to-Fertilizer" Plan Begins in Colorado, Press Release (8/14/2000). http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news2000/nn10749.htm
- PenWeb, Sludge Leadership Team, Position Paper Why We Are Opposed to the Land Application of Sewage Sludge http://www.penweb.org/issues/sludge#agriculture
- News article, Sarah Day Owen, New York sewer sludge turned into fertilizer, The ShoalsSearch (9/30/07). "After E. coli bacteria has been removed, fertilizer from human waste is all the same, he said. "It's just like any other fertilizer," Maybe the person interviewed did not realize that the source of sewer sludge, the public waste treatment plant, is also the recipient of waste water from Superfund sites and anything else one flushes or excretes - birthcontrol medication, drain cleaner, paint thinner, and thousands of other chemicals.
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Extension in Lancaster Co., Regulations for Safe Use of Biosolids (undated).
- News article, Jillian Lloyd, Special to The Christian Science Monitor 1997, Turning Toxic Sludge Into Fertilizer Effort marks test of new and controversial way to clean up Superfund sites inexpensively:[ALL 06/23/97 Edition]. Christian Science Monitor; http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed January 30, 2009). Waste from Metro, a wastewater treatment plant in Denver 'recycled' into fertilizer (biosolids/sewer sludge). Metro, along with other Colorado agencies responsible for cleaning up a Superfund site near Denver, wants to add that site's toxic waste to the sewer sludge mix. And while Metro and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) insist that the sludge is safe, local farmers are unconvinced.
- News article, Jillian Lloyd, Special to The Christian Science Monitor 2000, In fight over a toxic landfill, Round 1 goes to citizens, (May 08, 2000).
 
'Organic' Fertilizer (as of 3/29/11 the organic fertilizer information has moved to its own page. Click the words 'Organic' Fertilizer)