Posted by Joe on: 05.23.2008 /
…. because they thought that if the kids ate the sludge amended soil, it would be less toxic than their lead contaminated soil.
I kid you not. But it was ok, the sludge was perfectly safe.
As a soil scientist (well kinda, my degrees majored in soils), I’m a bit lost for words.
For a start - what the XXXX are poor kids doing living on top of soil that is lead contaminated anyway? For second, treated sewage sludge is not untoxic. So we’re adding toxic substances onto lead contaminated soil in inner city areas. Right, of course we are. In the UK we’re not allowed to apply this stuff anywhere close to where it could be found by kids. We’re not even allowed to apply it on food crops because of the risk of contamination.
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