Toxic Waste Use as Fertilizer on Farms Reported

Toxic heavy metals, chemicals and radioactive wastes are being recycled as fertilizer and spread over farmers’ fields nationwide--and there is no federal law requiring that they be listed as ingredients, the Seattle Times reported.

The issue came to light in the central Washington town of Quincy, population 4,000, when Mayor Patty Martin led an investigation by local farmers concerned about poor yields and sickly cattle.

“It’s really unbelievable what’s happening, but it’s true,” Martin told the newspaper, which published a series about the practice on Thursday and Friday.

Until now, the state Department of Agriculture sampled fertilizers only to see if they contained advertised levels of beneficial substances.

But the state is currently testing a cross-section of fertilizer products to see if they threaten crops, livestock or people, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Friday.

“The key question is what toxics are, as it were, along for the ride in fertilizers,” said Tom Fitzsimmons, director of the state Department of Ecology.

Use of industrial waste as a fertilizer ingredient is a growing national phenomenon, the Times reported.

In Gore, Okla., a uranium-processing plant gets rid of low-level radioactive waste by licensing it as a liquid fertilizer and spraying it over 9,000 acres of grazing land.

At Camas, Wash., lead-laced waste from a pulp mill is hauled to farms and spread over crops destined for livestock feed.

In Moxee City, Wash., dark powder from two Oregon steel mills is poured from rail cars into silos at Bay Zinc Co. under a federal hazardous waste storage permit. Then it is emptied from the silos for use as fertilizer. The newspaper called the powder a toxic byproduct of steel-making but did not identify it.

“When it goes into our silo, it’s a hazardous waste,” said Bay Zinc’s president, Dick Camp. “When it comes out of the silo, it’s no longer regulated. The exact same material.”

Federal and state governments encourage the recycling, which saves money for industry and conserves space in hazardous-waste landfills.

The substances found in recycled fertilizers include cadmium, lead, arsenic, radioactive materials and dioxins, the Times reported. The wastes come from incineration of medical and municipal wastes, and from heavy industries.