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Ex-EPA scientist says spread sludge had nothing to do with reducing lead

CommentsComment on this article
Jun 20, 2008 12:00 AM (112 days ago) by Mike Silvestri, The Examiner
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Related Topics: BALTIMORE
In 2007, of 892 children tested statewide, .8 percent had elevated blood levels, down from 1.2 percent in 2006. LaDawn Hester, 24, puts a sticker on her daughter Laila Hester, 2, who has lead poisoning, in their Baltimore home, which was not part of the sludge study. Laila hasn’t shown any signs of impairment.

In 2007, of 892 children tested statewide, .8 percent had elevated blood levels, down from 1.2 percent in 2006. LaDawn Hester, 24, puts a sticker on her daughter Laila Hester, 2, who has lead poisoning, in their Baltimore home, which was not part of the sludge study. Laila hasn’t shown any signs of impairment.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - When Johns Hopkins University and federal researchers spread sewage sludge compost on East Baltimore yards, they were providing “scientific cover” rather than attempting to reduce lead levels, a former Environmental Protection Agency microbiologist told Maryland officials.

The study is “central” to the scientist’s False Claims Act lawsuit against officials at the EPA and University of Georgia, which was first reported in April in The Examiner. The suit alleges that the school intentionally spread false information to support the federal government’s practice of offering sludge as free fertilizer to farmers.

“Taken as a whole, much of the evidence embodied in our lawsuits suggests that the government’s interest in testing sewage sludge in inner-city neighborhoods has more to do with providing ‘scientific’ cover than it does with protecting children from lead poisoning,” former EPA microbiologist David Lewis said in a June letter to Carl Snowden, director of civil rights in the attorney general’s office,  and other state and local officials.

Lewis suggested researchers used the Baltimore inner-city neighborhoods as a means to dump the sludge in an area where there would be little opposition — not as a means to help children at risk for lead poisoning.

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The letter, obtained by The Examiner, said that if researchers were trying to reduce lead exposure, they should not have tilled the soil before dumping the sludge compost because that spreads lead in the air.

Lewis also said the Kennedy Krieger Institute did not report levels of molybdenum and mercury in the compost, two of nine heavy metals that the federal government regulates in sludge.

The 2005 Baltimore study found that using Class A sewage sludge compost  reduced the lead levels in the highly contaminated soils of several black families’ East Baltimore yards.  The compost is treated to eliminate pathogens and is mixed with wood chips.

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Krieger performed the federally funded study. Bloomberg Dean Michael Klag and Krieger President Gary Goldstein repeatedly said the study reduced lead levels and involved a compost that is commercially sold.

“What we’ve stated all along is that this is a study that was about reducing dangerous lead in the soil,” said Tim Parsons, spokesman for Johns Hopkins. “What we were using was a commercially available compost that was approved by the EPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment, that was approved for this very purpose.”

Parsons cited four newspaper articles published in 2000 from The Toledo Blade, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Morning Call and The Tennessean in which Lewis is quoted and paraphrased saying that Class A sewage sludge is safe.

The articles were published during the same time the Baltimore study was conducted.

Lewis and his attorney met recently in Baltimore with Snowden and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to discuss possible litigation relating to the study, according to the letter.

Read the full document of Lewis' letter in a PDF file.

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com

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Comments from Examiner Readers

8:31 PM MST on Fri., Aug. 15, 2008 re: "Scientist’s attorney says UGA spread false data to win grants"

 Examiner Reader said:
One good aspect of this issue is that the very people who allow these activities are also recipients of their own work. They cannot escape the fertilized foods or golf courses or lawns either.

 Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

7:48 PM MST on Mon., Jun. 23, 2008 re: "Ex-EPA scientist says spread sludge had nothing to do with reducing lead"

 Examiner Reader said:
The EPA has been covering up this unhealthy and dangerous practice for years, making thousands sick and killing some. It is time for LAND APPLICATION to stop. Good article-KEEP THEM COMING!!!!!

 1 agree | 4 disagree
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8:42 PM MST on Fri., Jun. 13, 2008 re: "A dirty shame"

 sherry said:
hey lawmakers DO OR JOB ABOUT SEWAGE SLUDGE IN OHIO ?I have truck going by my house all time , a dirty SHAME ,, what bad went sewage sludge on road from truck . STOP SPREADING IN OHIO !!!!!!!!!

 4 agree | 4 disagree
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8:24 PM MST on Fri., Jun. 13, 2008 re: "Scientist’s attorney says UGA spread false data to win grants"

 sherry said:
hi, the epa told me to my face it safe !!! I HOPE THEY BAN IT ON SPREADING IN OHIO ,

 3 agree | 2 disagree
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10:26 AM MST on Mon., May. 5, 2008 re: "Sewage sludge critics urge ban on spreading"

 Vicki said:
I cannot understand why we have to prove the illnesses come from the sludge. This isn't criminal court where sludge is innocent until proven guilty - it should be proven safe before being used. It has not been proven to be safe, and the EPA will not say it is.

 6 agree | 6 disagree
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7:57 AM MST on Fri., May. 2, 2008 re: "Treated compost not same as sludge, maker stresses"

 Examiner Reader said:
To Orgro- What scientific proceedure do you do to test for dioxin, chemicals, pharmacuticals and other pollutants and then what is your scientific proceedure to extract and and all forgeign pollutants???

 4 agree | 5 disagree
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1:48 AM MST on Fri., May. 2, 2008 re: "Sewage sludge critics urge ban on spreading"

 Examiner Reader said:
This is silly, why should a change of ownership of Synagro change the health effects of their land application activities? I cannot see any reason why the change of ownership should be linked to the health outcomes. Regarding the possible health outcomes; thousands of people work with sewage sludge every day; wouldn't they be the people most likely to contract illness? Yet these workers have a very good health record. The safety of sludge application has been extensively examined in many countries and all have concluded that the type of rules that apply in the USA are safe. For more than 30 years the focus has been eliminating contaminants at source, either by regulating industry or by banning hazardous substances from use. Using sludge on land is the best way to conserve the fertilizer value of phosphate that we have in the anthrogopenic cycle. The world's P is running out is is immoral to inhibit safe recycling.

 5 agree | 10 disagree
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7:43 PM MST on Thu., May. 1, 2008 re: "Sewage sludge critics urge ban on spreading"

 Examiner Reader said:
It would be much less a problem if human waste was the only ingredient in sludge. Literally ever industrial, commercial, medical, chemical, drug, heavy metal, bacterial and viral pathogen can be and is found in sludge. If it was a good thing they wouldn't need to take it out of the water in the first place. It gets back into the water when it rains. It gets into the air when it is spread. I was there yesterday, at the Carlyle Building, and I can assure you, our agenda was to point out to Carlyle Group who has recently acquired Synagro, the largest land applier of Sewage Sludge in the USA that there are thousands of people throughout the US and Canada suffering from the ill effects of the land application of sewage sludge. I would encourage the thousands of people fighting this problem let Carlyle know that we are asking our legislators to roll back the legislative red carpet that makes the spreading of sludge possible against the will of anyone effected by it.

 6 agree | 8 disagree
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3:40 PM MST on Thu., May. 1, 2008 re: "Treated compost not same as sludge, maker stresses"

 Maureen Reilly said:
Not one of the nine test yards came out of the Baltimore experiment meeting the EPA children's playground bare soil limit for lead. Not one. The experiment put the families at risk from blowing lead contaminated soils, stirred up by rototillers. Nine yards had all their lawn grass pulled off, removing the only barrier that was protecting the families from the lead contaminated soil beneath. Some of the sludge they brought out to the yards was higher in lead than some of the yard soil it was supposed to fix! At as much as 237 ppm lead, this sludge compost was well over normal soil levels of 10 ppm lead. This report was to provide academic cover so that more sludge compost could be hauled out to do more 'remediation' in the future. In 2006 federal funds were made available for housing remediation, and oddly enough this cooked up research came out just before that announcement. Just think what they could have done with clean soil and some sod. Maureen Reilly Sludge Wa

 9 agree | 8 disagree
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1:24 PM MST on Thu., May. 1, 2008 re: "Sewage sludge critics urge ban on spreading"

 Examiner Reader said:
Funny, I was one of the participants and neither myself or any of the others there are Union members nor were we asked to join, that accusation is truly false, but a typical response, rather than addressing the true problem they act like there was another motive. SEIU recognizes a SERIUOS HEALTH issue with Sewage Sludge across the Nation and is helping expose it and trying to rectify the problem. Its time to wake up America.

 4 agree | 4 disagree
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7:53 PM MST on Wed., Apr. 30, 2008 re: "Treated compost not same as sludge, maker stresses"

 sherry said:
we got to cleanup epa and laws. it just a sludge nightmare in ohio..... what a dirty shame

 7 agree | 3 disagree
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11:21 AM MST on Fri., Apr. 25, 2008 re: "NAACP wants more answers in Baltimore sludge project"

 Fed Up said:
I agree with the NAACP that this is not a racial issue. It is much broader than that. Years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had a plan to dispose of sewage from Detroit. They planned to transport it through pipes to Michigan's Thumb area, and use it to fertilize farmland. It took a great uproar to stop that. But many countries do this, and when you buy food from other countries it is often fertilized with sludge made from human waste. It will take a great outroar from citizens to change this.

 8 agree | 2 disagree
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1:01 PM MST on Wed., Apr. 23, 2008 re: "Lead, not sludge, was subject of experiment, researchers say"

 Examiner Reader said:
Did Hopkins arrive in the middle of the night and deposit the fertilizer on peoples lawns? Of course not. The entire community was involved, along with the so-called black leaders. Now, a new strain of black leader is on the scene, only this time they're after cash. These con artists got their degrees at the Slip-N-Fall institute. Watch and learn, folks.

 2 agree | 3 disagree
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12:14 PM MST on Wed., Apr. 23, 2008 re: "NAACP wants more answers in Baltimore sludge project"

 rico said:
the whole purpose of the Hopkins sludge treatment in east baltimore, was to see if the applicaion of sludge woulh slow down the absorption of lead tainted dirt in humans , they were finished testing the rats. Why do you think the residents of the homes were not asked to leave , they needed them there to see the results. thats why they wounld not tell anyone were the homes were located, or who the people they experimeted on. Thats why they had the people sign confidentiality statements, and gave them food coupons why they were infected

 1 agree | 2 disagree
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6:59 AM MST on Wed., Apr. 23, 2008 re: "Lead, not sludge, was subject of experiment, researchers say"

 perryhallguy said:
good job getting out facts instead of unjustified speculation.

 3 agree | 3 disagree
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3:59 PM MST on Tue., Apr. 22, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 rico said:
hopkins experimented on people with the sludge, they do not know what could happen to the residents were the sludge was spread. The whole purpose was to see the results of people getting the lead based dirt in their systems , why else would they put it down. Johns Hopkins have not learned from the last lead paint experiment,in 2001 that cause them millons

 2 agree | 4 disagree
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6:47 PM MST on Mon., Apr. 21, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 Examiner Reader said:
There already is to much diversity in this city! Lets go the other way!

 4 agree | 3 disagree
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6:45 PM MST on Mon., Apr. 21, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 Examiner Reader said:
Taxes are not good ! Lower them for a good economy.

 2 agree | 1 disagree
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8:21 AM MST on Mon., Apr. 21, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 Dunn said:
Someone mentioned below that the City needs to stop investing in entertainment and put more money into education, health etc... While that sounds great and compassionate. There are serious problems with that. If you haven't noticed Baltimore hasn't done that well for the past 5 decades. Baltimore and other cities are making a comeback and increasing its tax base. Some of the reason for this is increased amenities. People are moving into the "trendy" neighborhoods pay a disprortionate high amount of taxes and use very few services. Mainly this is because there are so many to take care of. Tax dollars are needed to support social programs. The more this city attracts residents who pay the big tax bills, the more there is to spend. Also, I don't believe many of the issues are purely economic or political. Also, everytime there is a lawsuit that the taxpayers pay for, there is less $ for other things. It would also be nice to get more diversity in the city.

 3 agree | 2 disagree
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7:08 AM MST on Mon., Apr. 21, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 Examiner Reader said:
Ok, so no more free fertilizer for these folks, who because they swallow anything Doc Cheat'em spits out, insist on biting the hand that feeds them. Right after we that, the city needs to seek a court order requiring proprty owners to have the levels of lead in their soil reduced to safe limits. That could cost tens-of-thousands.

 2 agree | 2 disagree
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5:38 AM MST on Mon., Apr. 21, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 John L said:
A relative of mine has lived in a mixed race East-side city neighborhood for the past 20 years. She told me several years ago that there is an urban myth among her black acquaintances that they don't want to be treated by Hopkins as they will be secretely experimented upon. Add this to the myth that AIDS was designed and released to kill black people and toss it in with the rest of this sludge.

 2 agree | 1 disagree
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4:33 AM MST on Mon., Apr. 21, 2008 re: "Hopkins defends spreading sludge"

 Examiner Reader said:
This stuff gives off a lot of greenhouse gas!Do you have to buy carbon credits to use it? Yes , and the taxpayers will pay.

 2 agree | 5 disagree
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10:26 PM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 L.E. said:
The previous comments re the Hopkins story should have read-This did not JUST happen to a small group of 'black' people who were lied to as you stated.-an omission of the word 'just' changed the context of the statement. Sludge issues certainly affect everyone.

 1 agree | 2 disagree
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8:09 PM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
The comment on the black community was referencing the Hopkins Story. I know this was a suburban community and what I said was that there are Hundreds of thousands of rural communities who have been tortured by sludge for many years like this one (I happen to be one of those)and that the news media attention is good that it is bringing this injustice to the forfront. There are MANY,MANY neighboorhoods like this across the country and it is sad that our government allows it and worse yet promotes it. It does make you sick if you live near it. Hope more stories come out in the open for all to read, it needs to.

 1 agree | 4 disagree
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12:33 PM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "Lawmakers call for sludge investigation"

 Examiner Reader said:
The Department of Agriculture is a criminal polluter that has now taken a life. The DOA is a useless agency and needs to be disbanded. Please note government is also the largest polluter of the Bay too.

 3 agree | 5 disagree
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11:51 AM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "Lawmakers call for sludge investigation"

 Examiner Reader said:
epa doesn't look so good. your tax dollars at work???

 1 agree | 2 disagree
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8:06 AM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
On another note, its pretty sad that a couple of internet educated households were able to convince a bunch of gut less politicians and state officials that the biosolids program wasn't right. The effort to Save Maryland Parks was a bunch of BS, the neighbors of Susquehanna State park should have named their campaign "Not in My Back Yard".

 4 agree | 8 disagree
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7:47 AM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "Scientist’s attorney says UGA spread false data to win grants"

 Sandtown said:
Lack of integrity is rampant in every area of our increasingly narcissistic culture, why would anyone think the scientific community is any different? The grant money available for scientific research is enormous. I suspect this is only a fraction of the fraud going on these days to get a piece of a very large pie. Government oversight of money being spent is a joke as is the state of investigative journalism. It really is sad, the current lack of morality in this country.

 3 agree | 2 disagree
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5:51 AM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
or used to fertilize the landscaping around these gov't agencies? hmmmph- I guess there's enough fertilizer there already-at the cost of citizen safety

 1 agree | 1 disagree
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1:30 AM MST on Fri., Apr. 18, 2008 re: "Sludge experiments target Baltimore’s poorer black communities"

 johnn said:
how come none of this sludge is being dumped in martin omalleys neighborhood

 4 agree | 3 disagree
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9:26 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Reader said:
Excellently written and informative

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8:48 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "Scientist’s attorney says UGA spread false data to win grants"

 Examiner Reader said:
great work, mike silvestri and the examiner! keep on it

 7 agree | 5 disagree
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8:33 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 L.E. said:
Eyer did not comment on the smell at any time. She hauled her horse from Fallston a week after sludge was spread, there were no signs posted and she did not find out there was sludge there until two weeks later when she saw the neighbors Jeff and Kathy Lawson posting information about it. Eyer lives less than a mile from the dump site and was riding from the opposite side of the park to her home. There is no litigation at this time aainst this company. Public awareness was the motivation for her participation in this article.

 4 agree | 3 disagree
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8:17 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 L. E. said:
To the Examiner Reader who commented previously- This did not happen to a small group of 'black' people who were lied to as you stated. This happened in a settled suburban community bordering Susquehanna State Park and the Steppingstone Museum with a community membership including all cultures. What planet are you on? However the sludge issue is a true dilemma and health risks on public lands should not be compromised by dangerous big business practices. Farming was not this corporation's main financial agenda.

 4 agree | 3 disagree
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7:06 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
The sad but good thing is that this happened to a small group of black people who were lied to, it finally got someones attention. The truth of the matter is that hundreds of THOUSANDS of people from every color, actually mostly white, have been tortured by this deadly practice for years unable to defend themselves because of the law makers in DC. It is time that the EPA who is responsible for all this goes to court and gets put on trial for what harm they have done to people across this nation, they need to pay for the damage they have done. When our nation finds out the rest of the story they will be mortified!!!!

 3 agree | 4 disagree
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4:22 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
Thank you for providing this information that the general public is not aware of the other side of the SLUDGE application. Please keep up your efforts until those in power will say those words that the application of SLUDGE is totally safe for us all. V/R Glen Musick

 4 agree | 4 disagree
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3:24 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Barbara L. RUbin said:
Thank you for reporting on this very questionable EPA program. In spite of fierce opposition to the harmful sludge applications, Virginia like Maryland continues to force it’s usage on the public. This results in ever increasing numbers of neighbors who become ill with typical sludge linked health symptoms. These symptoms include irritated eyes, nose, throat, respiratory problems, flu-like symptoms, rashes and lesions. In 2002, Dr. David Lewis documented similar health effects and deaths, in his peer-reviewed study which has never been disputed. I am one of the victims who researched the ill effects of sewage sludge land applications for the past 7 years. You correctly point out, the EPA and industry continue to ignore or deny these valid complaints. They are in the absurd position of claiming a complex substance, whose contents they admit are unknown, is “safe” for public health. It is imperative Congress investigate this questionable and harmful program

 7 agree | 2 disagree
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1:26 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
There is not a single report of sludge being spread in which it DIDNT sicken the people around it. The reports from those people and their doctors are simply burried or dismissed. It is a horrible, disgusting abuse of lobbyists, power ad intimidation that continues this deadly practice

 6 agree | 3 disagree
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12:42 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A dirty shame"

 Examiner Reader said:
didn't see THIS in the sun or b!

 5 agree | 2 disagree
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12:41 PM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A dirty shame"

 Examiner Reader said:
a dirty shame indeed. it smells bad too. especially the noxious effusions coming out of the epa.

 6 agree | 4 disagree
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11:03 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
If you ever livced near sludge you would know that what she said was true and that you get REALLY SICK if exposed to it. It is NOT SAFE even though our lovely EPA likes to tell you it is. Take it from mone who knows first hand. Believe what they are trying to tell you people

 5 agree | 2 disagree
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7:46 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
Wasn't this the park that (this same lady said) smelled so bad people had to stay inside?? Sooooo, how could she ride her horse across it and not know???

 2 agree | 4 disagree
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7:16 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A dirty shame"

 Ms. Nokia Barksdale said:
BLACKMAN is oversimplifying things a bit. The sludge is not being spread in Balto or St. Louis because they can dispose of it by spreading it on blacks' lawns, it is being done as a project to reduce polltion in areas were it is 1) concentrated and 2) people live - - ergo in cities! The second point is that there is a huge difference between untreated sludge and the treated sludge they are using in Baltimore. Hey this is not being foisted on anyone. The researchers asked for volunteers - no one put a gun to their head! This is race baiting to say it is an experiment on African-Americans. This is simply being done in habitated contaminated areas and its a common fact that there are more blacks in the cities than elsewhere.

 3 agree | 4 disagree
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6:59 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "Sludge experiments target Baltimore’s poorer black communities"

 Blackman Fan said:
Well said Blackman.

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6:52 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A dirty shame"

 Blackman 2 said:
on those issues that are truly important to our communities. Imus is a secondary concern next to environmental justice, access to educational resources, and protection from financial piracy. While we were distracted by many other unimportant issues, the sub-prime loan industry destroyed our neighborhoods, pay day loan stores replaced banks in urban areas, and the quality of our schools declined. Rather than focus on entertainment, perhaps we should focus on those things that affect the quality of lives of our children

 3 agree | 2 disagree
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6:46 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A dirty shame"

 BLACKMAN said:
From the thirties till the seventies an experiment on African American men took place. African American men infected with Syphilis were observed so that scientist could track how the disease progressed in Blacks. This experiment took place even after a cure was found which was not made available to the men. It would be nice to believe that the racism that would lead scientist to experiment on African Americans has dissipated, however this is not the case. In East St. Louis and Baltimore the federal government experimented with a sludge made of human waste as a tool for limiting lead exposure. The neighborhoods used in the experiment were primarily African American. Full disclosure of what was in the sludge used on lawns was not made. Were it not for the freedom of information act we would not know what took place. Vigilance is the price for freedom and equality. We must always be on guard against those who would take advantage of the poor and disenfranchised. We must also focus on

 3 agree | 6 disagree
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5:42 AM MST on Thu., Apr. 17, 2008 re: "A sludge nightmare along the Susquehanna"

 Examiner Reader said:
Stop looking for a handout. You were already sick. Shenanigins!!! "Eyer, 51, already had a compromised immune system."

 4 agree | 13 disagree
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