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Sludge Tested In Poor Neighborhoods As Lead-Poisoning Fix Causes Stir
FOXNews.com ^ | Sunday, April 13, 2008 | Associated Press

Posted on 04/13/2008 1:37:45 PM PDT by metmom

BALTIMORE — Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients.

Nine low-income families in Baltimore row houses agreed to let researchers till the sewage sludge into their yards and plant new grass. In exchange, they were given food coupons as well as the free lawns as part of a study published in 2005 and funded by the Housing and Urban Development Department.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: environment; sludge; waste

1 posted on 04/13/2008 1:42:02 PM PDT by metmom
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To: metmom

So this is what’s wrong with Baltimore’s kids! Sh!t for brains! No more mud pies for youse!


2 posted on 04/13/2008 2:00:24 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
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To: metmom
Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods..............

The Reverand Wright needs to expound on this.

3 posted on 04/13/2008 2:02:22 PM PDT by umgud
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To: metmom

There is no such thing as a free lunch(or lawn).


4 posted on 04/13/2008 2:02:38 PM PDT by Eyes Unclouded (We won't ever free our guns but be sure we'll let them triggers go....)
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To: metmom

Ewwww.


5 posted on 04/13/2008 2:13:15 PM PDT by tgusa (Gun control: deep breath, sight alignment, squeeze the trigger .....)
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To: tgusa

exactly...though before Wright says it’s a federal conspiracy, I will let everyone know that about 20 years ago, the farmers about a mile away from us in Vermilion, Ohio, used this sludge...and none of the neighbors were asked OR given extra coupons. At least 20 years ago, it stank especially in the summer, (as you can imagine). If it’s the same thing, I hope they did something about the stink cause it weren’t no manure (if you know what I mean!).


6 posted on 04/13/2008 2:18:50 PM PDT by t2buckeye
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To: metmom

Got a better idea - deliver the sludge to the public school cafeterias and let them cook it up and serve it to the kids that already eat all those free lunches anyway. Kill several birds with one stone - dispose of waste, provide “food” that would otherwise cost taxpayers a lot of money, and also get to experiment in under even more controlled conditions...

/sarcasm

Seriously - where is the NAACP, Acorn, and Reverend Al on this???


7 posted on 04/13/2008 2:44:15 PM PDT by TheBattman (LORD God, please give us a Christian Patriot with a backbone for President in 08, Amen.)
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To: t2buckeye

If this is the material I think it is, in spite of the inflammatory tone of the article, there is no odor involved. It’s similar to the horse and cow manure sold every day at the local lawn and garden store.

The heavy metals and most chemicals are removed at the waste water plant, and this is the stuff that is left. Before it’s used for fertilizer it’s kiln-dried to kill off any remaining live bacteria.


8 posted on 04/13/2008 2:47:00 PM PDT by jimtorr
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To: metmom

I’m just gonna watch. This oughta be good.


9 posted on 04/13/2008 3:24:22 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Just saying what 'they' won't.)
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To: metmom

If it’s processed correctly before using then no big deal.

We used Milorganite in the ‘50s and 60s on the lawn and garden.

From Wikipedia:

Milorganite is the brand name of an organic nitrogen fertilizer produced by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Popularized in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s, it consists of processed sludge from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The fertilizer is made up of microbes that have digested nutrients from the sewage stream along with added iron, used to strip phosphorus from the waste water flowing into Lake Michigan.

The name Milorganite is a contraction of the phrase Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen, and was the result of a 1925 naming contest held in National Fertilizer Magazine.

Milorganite(r) 6-2-0 is sold throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Pacific Rim as a homeowner and golf course fertilizer.

You can still buy it.

Video: http://www.milorganite.com


10 posted on 04/13/2008 4:14:12 PM PDT by LibFreeOrDie
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To: metmom

Only the Federal Government could come up with something like this. You’re taxpayer dollars at work experimenting on poor, black families and bribing them with food coupons.


11 posted on 04/13/2008 6:00:20 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (To the liberal, there's no sacrifice too big for somebody else to make. --FReeper popdonnelly)
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To: metmom; Abundy; Albion Wilde; AlwaysFree; AnnaSASsyFR; bayliving; BFM; cindy-true-supporter; ...

Maryland “Freak State” PING!


12 posted on 04/13/2008 6:01:14 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (To the liberal, there's no sacrifice too big for somebody else to make. --FReeper popdonnelly)
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To: LibFreeOrDie

Big *If*.

It’s the government, you know.


13 posted on 04/13/2008 6:40:34 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: tgusa

I can handle natural fertilizer from certain animals, herbivores, usually..

Human waste??? NO WAY!!!


14 posted on 04/13/2008 6:41:42 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

My understanding is that this is not the first time poor folk, blacks in particular, have been the subject of *experiments*.

It’s just so wrong, and the reason is so flimsy.


15 posted on 04/13/2008 6:43:24 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: t2buckeye
I share your experience.

Again, about twenty years ago, a local Jr High was having it's playing fields plowed under with. . .sludge from Inner Harbor, Baltimore.

A penetrating stench permeated about a three block area for a very long time.

16 posted on 04/14/2008 12:01:05 PM PDT by doberville
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To: metmom
Uhhh ... isn't this "Milorganite"?
17 posted on 04/14/2008 12:04:32 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

From the ad:

“In fact, plants need some heavy metals, such as zinc and copper and molybdenum, for normal, healthy growth.”

I didn’t think that those metals were considered heavy metals, so I googled heavy metals up. They aren’t true heavy metals, they’re part of the transition metals which sometimes are classified as heavy.

I think the advertising is somewhat deceitful. On one hand, they’re admitting that it contains heavy metal, and then implies that it’s only the non-toxic kind. Good way to protect yourself from a lawsuit. *Gee, we told them it contained heavy metals and they bought it anyway.*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metals


18 posted on 04/14/2008 1:14:37 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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