We were first exposed to sludge when they spread it in fields near us about 2 years ago. It is less than 200 feet from my mobile home. We weren't aware of what was going on until the trucks starting coming into the fields in the middle of the night.
We are down wind. They were stockpiling it. My windows were open. I woke up with my nose burning and my eyes watering. It was like putting my nose over a bottle of ammonia. The smell stayed in my home ... we were gasping and trying to breathe. I thought about opening the refrigerator door just to get a breath of air!.
We had to keep all our windows shut. It got so bad I went to live at my son's house for a while. When we returned, we washed our mobile home, filters, fence, everything - in bleach.
My grandson is 4, almost 5 years old. He lived with me when he was first born. He was on a heart monitor -- he suffered from unexplained apnea. They did all kinds of testing but could (not) find out what caused it or why he stopped breathing. I care for him now while his parents work.
After they spread the sludge, I explained to the manager about my grandson's health problems. He said since I was a nice lady, they would move the sludge stockpile to 1000 feet away from my home. But when I came home, the fields were totally covered with sludge -- it was coated over everything. They spread sludge there from August 2000 until about November or December 2000.
1 am presently on the Biosolids Committee with the County Board of Supervisors. There are 4 property owners (I am one) up against 15 EPA/waste industry people -- all the people who are getting paid to endorse sludge spreading.... the county health officer, environmental officials, Riverside County agricultural commissioner -- all the top people.
At the first meeting I asked about the amine gases. Everyone sat there and went blank. There were no responses. I pulled out an 8xl0 picture(s) which I took inNovember, 2000, showing the cloud over the sludge. There is a mountain behind the field and the sun tends to show it up more at certain angles in the morning and evening.
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