SLUDGE VICTIMS

The issue has become increasingly controversial in the United States where at least two deaths have been linked to sewage sludge on farms. In 1994, an 11 -year-old Pennsylvania boy died within days of riding his motorcycle over a sludge-drenched field. The next year, a 26-year-old New Hampshire man died after sewage sludge was applied on a farm field that was 45 metres from his home. His family launched a wrongful death lawsuit against the waste management company that delivered the loads.

On July 28, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control put out a hazard-identification warning for Class B biosolids -- the same kind of sewage sludge being applied to Ontario land -- after it investigated a rash of illnesses at an Ohio sewage-sludge facility.

The CDC report said that workers involved in the handling or spreading of sludge "may be exposed to disease-causing organisms" including E. coli, salmonella, shigella, campylobacter, cryptosporidium, giardia and viruses, protozoa and parasitic worms.

According to the report, the biosolids sampled were releasing bacteria into the air during land application and storage.