SLUDGE VICTIMS

case of the dead papayas is notorious in, the national sludge fraternity.

"I've been doing this for 12 years," said Alan Rubin, senior scientist with the biosolids team of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Nobody has presented to me any documented evidence that bacteria has directly caused crop death, or even stunted crop growth. I've never seen any evidence that happened."
Rubin says it sounds as though Parker may have burned his plants by botching the sludge application.

But the jury believed Parker.

"He's a very likable guy. And it is a very boring topic," theorizes Richard Hoffman, an appellate lawyer for the county. "You had a bunch of scientists going on about various theories of micro-organisms. The only person who was truly animated and genuinely moving was Parker, and this was his life."

Allhough an appellate court threw out the $6.7 million award, it upheld the finding of fault. Over a barrel, Dade struck a deal with Parker. Insurance companies are picking up about $900,000 and the sewer department will pay the rest.

Water rates will not increase

Dade will handle the payout without another bump in its water and sewer rates. It has been putting money aside to pay Parker, says director Anthony Clemente.

From Clemente's view, it could have been a lot worse: A jury thought Parker deserved $6.7 million.

Dade, meanwhile, still ships thousands of tons of the very same sludge. It is now called "Florida Organics," and it fertilizes the plants that wind up on your windowsill and the oranges that end up in your morning juice. Other cities across America also sell their sludge.

Dade scientists and lawyers say there's nothing to worry about. They say nobody else ever had a problem -- except for the smell.

"People will say,'Boy, I wish that stuff didn't smell that way,'" says Doug Ulmer, a South Dade natural resources conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "But if it's a good fertilizer, it's a good fertilizer."

Parker, now 68, says he'll only end up with about $375,000, once the lawyers and creditors are paid. He says it's small compensation for eight years of his life spent fighting the lawsuit.

He plans to take his money and head back to those same Bahama fields. "I'm going to be growing papayas," he said.