DC Sludge Upgrade Could Produce Valuable Fertilizer; But Critics Wary

"After moving tons of earth for an expansion, Stafford Regional Airport in Virginia faced an embarrassing problem: severe and seemingly irreversible baldness. Virtually nothing grew on its dusty, damaged land.

The airport’s worried manager, Ed Wallis, tried different treatments before he was advised to consult with officials at the Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant, a sprawling facility at the southern tip of the District that processes 375 million gallons of the area’s wastewater per day.

Airport officials liked what they saw and began accepting a dark substance called a biosolid from Blue Plains. Five months later, grass started to sprout. A year later, it was thigh-high."

Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post April 23, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Big-City Sludge Bound for Eastern Ontario" (Ottawa Citizen)

"Food Sunday: I Dare You, Put Sewage Sludge In Your Mouth" (FireDogLake)

"Would You Like A Bit Of Heavy Metal With That?" (FireDogLake)

"Citizens Comment on  Proposed Biosolids Rules" (Altavista Journal)

"Sludge Sloughs Off Perfluorinated Chemicals" (Chemical & Engineering News)

"Dishing the Dirt on  a ‘Sludge Diet’" (NovaNewsNow.com)

"Farmers Protest Sludge Changes" (Fredericksburg News)