In the late 1990s and early 2000s, farming communities in central Washington were rocked by the discovery that hazardous chemicals had been added to fertilizer without farmers' knowledge. A two-part series reported by Phil Ferolito of the Yakima Herald-Republic shines a harsh light on the dirty industry practice of recycling hazardous waste into fertilizer.
Environmental Health Sciences founder and chief scientist Pete Myers is credited in the book that spawned the series. A serial podcast and feature film are also in the works.
The takeaway: State and federal standards are too lenient. “There’s nothing there; you could drive a hazardous waste truck right through the middle of it.”
-- Patty Martin, former mayor of Quincy, Washington, speaking about loopholes in EPA standards
Part 1 of the series was published Oct 1; Part 2 dropped earlier this week.
For more, check out this EHN op-ed: Yes, food is grown in sewage waste. That's a problem.
