Milwaukee Closes The Loop On Poop
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 01.13.07
We recently learned from Lloyd about a proposal to wrap a natural gas-fired, generator proposal in “green” by adding solar photovoltaic capacity to the project. The Milwaukee Wisconsin USA, Metro Sewer District has a project in mind that seems more straightforward in intent and practical in outcome. Via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:- “Solar energy would provide nearly all of the electrical power needed to transform sewage sludge into Milorganite fertilizer at the Jones Island wastewater treatment plant, under a proposal by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.Four rows of photovoltaic panels would be installed atop the roof of the Milorganite plant this year at a cost of $198,000 if the proposal is approved this month by the sewerage commission…The Milorganite plant would become nearly 100% self-sufficient for electrical needs, depending on cloud cover, if the solar panels are installed…”
For those of you not familiar with Milorganite , it is fertilizer/soil amendment product suitable for both professional and consumer use. It is made from digested sewerage treatment plant sludge and sold in pelletized form. Home Depot even carries it.
To help ur readers confront the “Eeeewww” factor head on, we excerpted a portion of the Milorganite-published MSDS for you to review below.
Note, the Prop 65 warning is categorical: e.g. you should not assume that Prop 65 listed substance(s) are necessarily present in Milorganite at or above the threshold level for Prop 65 listing of individual substances.
We urge you to consider, also, which course of action is better: slowly reduce cultural uses of Prop 65 listed substances, so they are less likely to be present in the products we use and in our waste, or, to landfill or incinerate (with commensurate C02 emissions) the digested sludge. That would be the choice.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Warped Eco Tour Needs Some Green Love
- Run Cars on Green Electricity, Not Natural Gas
- GreenBuild: Project Frog
- Solar Power, Sea-Water Heating and a New 'Bridge' for Copenhagen
Wonderful. While I won't be using this on my tomatoes anytime soon (call me immature), I could see this great bit of long overdue recycling making my lawn happy and healthy and my flowers smelling sweet (bad joke intended).
Another simple measure that should damn near be law.
Milorganite really is good stuff. I had a commenter on my site bring it up a while ago (http://agdubbs.blogspot.com/2007/01/i-wrote-before-about-green.html). He uses it everywhere with good results. I've spent a lot of time reading bags at Home Depot and Lowe's and Milorganite seems to be about as good as one can get at your average lawn and garden center these days.
Don't be afraid of this stuff. In my opinion, it's about as good a fertilizer as one can buy. A commenter on my site said a lot of good things about it (http://agdubbs.blogspot.com/2007/01/i-wrote-before-about-green.html). I also use the City of Fort Wayne's biosolids, also human crap but processed differently, a lot in my gardens and it works very well.
Check out this video. It's a pretty good synopsis of the manufacturing process for Milorganite
LINK HEREAll my neighbors just come crap on my yard.
Anyone interested in using fertilizers composed of treated sewage sludege (esp. on lawns where children play) may want to take a look at the heavy metal content of these products: http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/heavy_metal/detail.lasso?-op=eq&product_id=1697. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium are linked to cancer and other serious health problems and some of these bioaccumulate in the soil over the years.
Also, check out a 1998 article by Environmental Group asking the USDA to prohibit the use of treated sewage sludge in fertilizers due to heavy metal content, etc.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/sludgememo/sludge.html.
You will give a second thought to their use after learning more about their contents.