Free Republic

Enlarge ImageBiopharming? Treated sewage sludge, here about to be spread on fields, commonly contains antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals.Credit: U.S. Geological Survey What's the downside to clean water? Dirty sludge. A nationwide survey of sewage treatment plants shows that the sludge they produce--the residue from cleaning up wastewater--contains a wide variety of toxic metals, pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, and other compounds, including some antibiotics in surprisingly high concentrations. That's significant because every year more than half of the roughly 7 million metric tons of these so-called biosolids produced in the United States are applied as fertilizer to farm fields. Whether the...

'The Lion' Makes a Difference in Iraq Marine Corps News | Brian J. Holloran | June 14, 2006 http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,101120,00.html Al Asad, Iraq - The two parties stare at each other from across a table that is filled with bottled water, sports drinks and soda cans. One side filled with local Iraqis from the neighboring area dressed in jeans, T-shirts and baseball hats. The other side is wearing the digital camouflaged uniforms with the eagle, globe and anchor embroidered on the chest over their hearts. Brief remarks from both sides are translated for the other to understand, turning the entire room...

Netanyahu withholds NIS 37m from PA for unpaid sewage bills This is the first time the Ministry of Finance has withheld tax payments to the Palestinian Authority for unpaid sewage treatment bills. David Hayoun 10 Mar 03 16:16Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu made his first operational decision yesterday since taking office. Sources inform “Globes” that he signed an order withholding NIS 37 million from tax payments to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for unpaid sewage treatment bills. The Ministry of National Infrastructures recommended the measure. This is the first time the Ministry of Finance has withheld money from the PA for...

<p>STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Something seems out of place in these lush woods just outside State College. The sycamores and silver maple just don't belong -- and neither does the sprinkler system.</p> <p>For years, Penn State University used its treated wastewater for irrigation, showering about 1 billion gallons per year on the state game lands north of State College and on nearby university-owned farmland.</p>