SLUDGE VICTIMS

IN THE DARK OF NIGHT in October 1995, a convoy of tractor trailer trucks rolled through a sleeping residential neighborhood in Greenland, New Hampshire, and dumped 650 tons of biologically active, "lime stabilized" Class B sewage sludge from Portland, Maine, on adjacent hay fields.

Residents of the neighborhood awoke to a stomach-wrenching stench, which was followed by weeks and months of sickness...... and death for a 26 year old man, Shayne Michael Conner.

A Case Study of Enhanced Susceptibility to Infection From Exposure to Gases Emitted by Sewage Sludge, by David L. Lewis, Samuel Shepherd, David K. Gattie, Susan Sanchez and Marc Novak, concludes:

" ABSTRACT: Most of twenty residents living in a Greenland, NM neighborhood where Class B biosolids were applied in 1995 experienced severe irritation of the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes, followed by respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses.

A 26-year old male died during one episode of respiratory distress approximately six weeks after the application. Laboratory tests and mathematical model outputs show that residents were probably exposed to at least 260 parts per million (ppm) of ammonia and 110 ppm of dimethyl disulfide emitted by the biosolids.

Residents were also exposed to biosolids dust containing significant numbers of opportunistic bacterial pathogens known to cause respiratory illnesses.
Symptoms, which included severe irritation to mucous membranes followed by respiratory infections, are consistent with enhanced susceptibility to infections after exposure to irritant gases.