Bob and Mary Ruane had successfully operated their dairy farm for many years. Their fondest hope was that their son would take over the farm when they retired.
The Ruane's nightmare began in 1986 when the City of Rutland convinced them to save on
costs by spreading sewage sludge on their 99-acre farm. The City furnished them with two tractors, a manure spreader and a set of transport harrows.
After 2 years of sludge spreading, Bob noticed a deterioration in his 150-cow herd. Milk production dropped from 18,000 pounds to 14,000 pounds.. The animals weren't breeding back as quickly, they suffered a mysterious outbreak of arthritis, cows aborted or bore calves with leg deformities.
Prior to using sludge, the Ruane's had a herd mortality of 2 to 4 cows a year. After feeding his cows corn silage grown in sludge, herd mortality drastically increased. 66 cows died between January 1989 and December 1991.
The state refused to renew Rutland's sludge permit because the wells on the Ruane property were contaminated with excessively high nitrate levels. Autopsies on the cows at Cornell University revealed high levels of heavy metals, which caused the animals to die from liver and kidney failure.
The Ruanes now struggle desperately to hang on, as their mortgage and milk business is based on a herd of 150 cows, not the 85 which survived. Part of the Ruane's crop land was also destroyed by the sludge --they had 27 acres of land which didn't grow an acre of corn.
The Ruane's cannot sell the farm because of the sludge contamination.. Most heartbreaking to Bob and Mary Ruane is the fact that their son no longer wants to take over what is left of the
farm because of the ruin caused by the sewage sludge.
State officials ignored the Ruane's pleas for help. "No-one would listen to us", Mary,says.
In January 1998, Bob and Mary Ruane came to New Hampshire and testified before the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. Bob told the legislators his experiences from the use of sludge ... he told them "sludge is poison".
Bob and Mary Ruane, PO Box 100, Middle Road, North Clarendon, Vt. 05759 (802) 775-4424
| BLO fecit 20011220 | CONTENTS old version |
COMMENTS, PLEASE ? |
next page | CONTENTS |