Dear Editor,
B.C.’s sewage sludge regulations, wrongly titled the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (OMRR), poses a new danger to the health of British Columbians. As it now stands, the OMRR is full of predictable problems:
- Self-enforcement of the regulations
- Lack of permitting processes
- Lack of requirements for labelling products made from sludge
- No monitoring required for viruses
- Lack of environmental monitoring for all possible contaminants
- Lack of stringent standards to prevent leaching of sludge-borne contaminants into groundwater.
Sludge can be spread 30 metres from adjacent homes, lakes, streams and wells.
The allowable levels of heavy metals are many times higher than those allowed in Europe.
The regulations do not require testing for any industrial chemicals recognized as toxic or antibiotics.
There are no limits to the amount of sludge per hectare.
Land which receives sewage sludge is exempt from contaminated sites regulations.
The Ministry of Environment is unable to monitor or enforce compliance, according to the provincial auditor general and the British Columbia Government Employees’ Union.
It is obvious that the OMRR is designed to facilitate the distribution of sewage sludge without any real consideration for the impact it will have on the quality of life of citizens.
George Christou
Merritt
