[Sherman Logan]

The fact that the city is basically lying to its citizens by claiming that toxic waste is both organic and rich in nutrients is not only shocking but abhorrent.

Actually both statements are completely accurate. The sludge is probably at least 98% organic in composition and it is certainly very rich in nutrients.

As the article says, it may also contain some things that aren't so good for the soil, but that doesn't make the two statements untrue, just incomplete.

The ideal way to deal with sewage is to return it to the soil. That's the natural way. Only problem with doing so with human waste, as such, is making sure pathogens are killed off. I suspect irradiation would do a darn good job at low cost.

Unfortunately, we have a lot of other stuff mixed in with the human waste due to the way we collect the stuff, so it's probably not that great an idea.

[Scythian]

I certainly wouldn’t use it on my garden, I mean many things like lettuce are consumed uncooked and unheated.

[RedMonqey]

Human waste I could deal with. On my family farm ,we've used cow manure as compose for centuries(literally)It's the heavy metals and drug residual thatwill build up in the soilbase and get into the watershed that scares the Hell out of me.

Family farms like ours want to be around for generations. "Industrial" farms aren't looking beyond the next financial quarters