Notice that EPA's Zinc Fertilizer Rule removed the exemption for certain heavy metals in zinc fertilizers. http://enviro.blr.com/news.aspx?id=29240 A portion is excerpted here to demonstrate how easily the public (and the Court's) can be mislead when they don't have enough information to 'read between the lines.' "EPA is satisfied with its course of action, ... because fertilizers are generally safe when used correctly, according to the agency’s studies*. Fertilizers made from recycled hazardous wastes are the only fertilizers subject to regulation under the EPA’s RCRA authority, and such fertilizers make up less than one half of one percent of the fertilizer market**. EPA is encouraging states to create their own additional regulations for fertilizer contaminants, because many fertilizers, including those not made from recycled wastes, contain "appreciable levels of heavy metal contaminants.***" (emphasis added) * This is factually incorrect: While the Zinc Fertilizer Rule's docket contains several reports produced by the EPA, none of those reports serve as the basis for EPA's claim of safety; they serve as EPA's documentation of the scale and scope of the practice of using industrial waste in fertilizer, and background of the synthetic fertilizer industry. EPA's brief to the court in Safe Food and Fertilizer v. EPA cited a study prepared by the Chemical industry as their support that this practice is 'safe.' That report was not peer reviewed, entered into the rule-making docket, or even published for review by the public until after the Zinc Fertilizer Rule was finalized. ** This is factually incorrect: EPA documents the agency is unable to quantify the amount of waste-derived fertilizers because there are no laws requiring collection or disclosure of this information to the agency. This "one half of one percent" refers to only the waste-derived zinc fertilizer's market share, not waste-derived fertilizer's share of the total fertilizer market. *** Note the contradiction - first paragraph: contaminated fertilizers are a very small portion of the market (EPA doesn't know what this portion is so there is no basis for claiming it is a small portion), second paragraph: many contain appreciable levels of contamination (further, these are only the few heavy metals for which EPA has taken notice. EPA has not taken notice of many toxic heavy metals present in fertilizers as documented by chemical analysis sponsored by several environmental groups. See: Toxic Wasteland on "Court, Law Reviews, Other" tab). |