|
BC Proposes Toxic Waste to Fertilize Crops |
|
|
|
November 24,
2005
Local groups, including the Crofton Airshed Citizens Group (CACG) and
Reach for Unbleached (RFU), today condemned the most recent effort by
the provincial government and local pulp mills to offload toxic waste
to the environment and risk human health. An ‘intentions paper’
outlining a code of practice for spreading toxic waste on agricultural
and forest land in BC has been put forward for a brief public
consultation period prior to preparing and implementing legislation.
The Government’s intent is expressed on their website with a November
30 deadline for response
“To call the practice of spreading industrial waste sludge and fly ash
on farmland ‘soil enhancement’ is truly a distortion,” said Michael
Cooke of CACG. “ No matter what it is called, it is important to
understand what chemical compounds will be entering the environment
where we grow food. Since we really don’t know what is in the waste
but a stew of chlorinated chemical compounds, it’s ludicrous to suggest
society will benefit by this proposed practice.”
Pulp mill waste sludge is a cocktail of solid chemical residue left
over from the industrial processes going into manufacturing and
bleaching pulp and paper. It is known to contain heavy metals and a
variety of persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins, PCB’s, and
phenolic acids. Fly ash is the remnants of the salty fuel burned in
the power boilers and also contains dangerous levels of toxic
chemicals.
“To spread the sludge directly on growing soil is no solution to the
problems associated with disposing of it,” said Delores Broten of RFU.
“There would be no problem with land-spreading composted and
decontaminated waste sludge if it could be proven that there were no
dangerous toxins left in it, but the current proposal includes no
testing regime or decontamination criteria. It is critical to ensure
that there is no chance of exposing the food chain to persistent
pollutants that bio-accumulate in humans and wildlife.”
The intentions paper refers to a limit on dioxins and furans for waste
that would be eligible for land-spreading, but such a limit is
necessarily arbitrary and political with no reliable testing criteria
to ensure compliance. There is no exclusion for any other chemicals or
compounds of concern.
“The acceptable limit for some of the most dangerous chemicals known is
zero,” said Broten. “There should be no allowance for release of waste
into the environment that has any chance of containing these
chemicals. The waste from pulp mills is well known to contain levels
of dioxins, furans and other persistent organic pollutants.”
“This code would pave the way for a major industrial polluter to
relieve themselves of the problem of toxic waste disposal, at the
direct expense of area residents,” said Cooke. “This provides a
fundamental permission for industrial polluters to rename their toxic
waste as ‘soil enhancement’ and release it into the environment. It’s
not healthy, and it’s not acceptable.”
Note: The intentions paper can be found at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epdiv/ema_codes_of_practice/soil_enhance.html">http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epdiv/ema_codes_of_practice/soil_enhance.html
|
Press Centre