WERF to investigate health complaints related to sewage sludge

The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) announced in September that it will spend $200,000 to jump-start the creation of a scientific “SWAT team” that could rapidly investigate health complaints related to the land application of sewage sludge.

Participants at a biosolids meeting in July organized by WERF, the U.S. EPA, and the New England Biosolids and Residuals Association ranked this project as the most important way to begin to address the 2002 National Research Council recommendations that called for a more current and thorough treatment of pathogens in sludge and their possible health effects (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 338A). However, several invited representatives of citizen groups boycotted the conference in protest over the treatment of former EPA microbiologist David Lewis.

WERF will work with EPA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and stakeholders to draft a plan for a pilot project. Included in the models to be considered are teams that evaluate the spread of infectious disease, said a WERF spokesperson. Coming to grips with the causes of odor and figuring out how to control smells were also ranked highly among the 31 research projects that were sketched out at the meeting. However, WERF has no plans to increase the $1.5 million in grants the foundation awards each year in biosolids-related research projects. —REBECCA RENNER