We implement Sierra Club's national Sewage Waste Policies by advocating for stronger regulations on the management of municipal sewage wastes – solids and effluent. Both contain unregulated dangerous chemicals such as the PFAS that are contaminating soils, waters, air and food. Some states have adopted stronger regulations, but the federal government has been slow to act.

Land Application of Sewage Sludges - "The Sierra Club opposes the land application of municipal sewage sludges as a fertilizer and/or soil amendment because the current policies and regulations governing this practice are not adequately protective of human health and the environment."

Compost Policy - "The Sierra Club opposes the use of contaminated toxics and/or pathogen containing waste as a compost ingredient and the application of municipal sewage sludge as a fertilizer." 

URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE STREAMS THREATEN PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

In 1969, flammable oil products, sewage and toxic debris in the Cuyahoga River caught fire as it wound its way through Cleveland, Ohio.  The event caught national attention and focused the nation on the health and environmental threats from pollution produced from urban and industrial waste.  Public alarm led to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 and the construction of wastewater sewage processing plants, the principal means of disposing of urban and industrial sewage and liquid wastes.

"SEWAGE TREATMENT" DOES NOT MEAN THE TREATED WASTE IS CLEAN OR SAFE WASTE

Sewage processing plants, which can receive any of over 90,000 contaminants a day,  separate sewage solids from the liquid waste stream. These pollutants, in the form of highly concentrated solids and diluted effluent, consist of mixtures of lead, mercury, arsenic, thallium, PCBs, PFAs, highly complex, biologically active toxins, pathogens, superbugs, mutagens, pesticides, microplastics, radioactive wastes, pharmaceuticals, steroids, flame retardants, dioxins, and/or their combinations.  The separated liquid is treated and directed back into open waters.

"DISPOSAL" DOES NOT MEAN WASTES "DISAPPEAR" - WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

Since 1993, millions of tons of hazardous sewage sludge have been spread on agricultural and forest lands, offered to unsuspecting farmers, landscapers and homeowners as a soil amendment or compost, without the US EPA admitting what harmful contaminants and pathogens the products contain. The toxic effluent is spread on farmland and recreational sites, where it flows and seeps into surface and ground water.  This has led to the contamination of land and water across the country and produce we grow.

Source: Hamid, H., & Li, L. (2016). Role of wastewater treatment plant in environmental cycling of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances. Ecocycles, 2(2), 43-53