NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Grant No. CX820717-01-0, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Grant No. 3-FG-81-19140, U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Grant No. 59-0700-4-067, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Water Research Institute, Water Environment Research Foundation, Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, National Food Processors Association, Eastern Municipal Water District in California, Metropolitan Water Districts of Southern California, Bio Gro Division of Wheelabrator Water Technologies, and N-Viro International Corporation.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-67381
International Standard Book Number 0-309-05479-6
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Cover depicts a farm field with a specialized truck for injecting sludge into the soil. A wastewater treatment plant is in the background. Art by Ellen Hill-Godfrey of Kensington, Maryland.
Committee on the Use of Treated Municipal Wastewater Effluents and Sludge in the Production of Crops for Human Consumption
ALBERT L. PAGE, Chair,
University of California, Riverside
ABATENI AYANABA,
Del Monte Foods, Walnut Creek, California
MICHAEL S. BARAM,
Boston University Law School, Massachusetts
GARY W. BARRETT,
University of Georgia, Athens
WILLIAM G. BOGGESS,
Oregon State University, Corvallis
ANDREW CHANG,
University of California, Riverside
ROBERT C. COOPER,
BioVir Laboratories, Inc., Benicia, California
RICHARD I. DICK,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
STEPHEN P. GRAEF,
Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority, Greenville, South Carolina
THOMAS E. LONG,
Washington State Department of Health, Olympia
CATHERINE ST. HILAIRE,
Hershey Foods Corporation, Hershey, Pennsylvania
JOANN SILVERSTEIN,
University of Colorado, Boulder
SARAH CLARK STUART, Consultant,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PAUL E. WAGGONER,
The Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station, New Haven
Staff
GARY KRAUSS, Study Director
MARY BETH MORRIS, Senior Project Assistant
Water Science and Technology Board
DAVID L. FREYBERG, Chair,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
BRUCE E. RITTMANN, Vice Chair,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
LINDA M. ABRIOLA,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
PATRICK L. BREZONIK,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
JOHN BRISCOE,
The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
WILLIAM M. EICHBAUM,
The World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.
WILFORD R. GARDNER,
University of California, Berkeley (retired)
THOMAS M. HELLMAN,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, New York, New York
CAROL A. JOHNSTON,
University of Minnesota, Duluth
WILLIAM M. LEWIS, JR.,
University of Colorado, Boulder
JOHN W. MORRIS,
J.W. Morris Limited, Arlington, Virginia
CAROLYN H. OLSEN,
Brown and Caldwell, Pleasant Hill, California
CHARLES R. O'MELIA,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
REBECCA PARKIN,
American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
IGNACIO RODRIGUEZ-ITURBE,
Texas A&M University, College Station
FRANK W. SCHWARTZ,
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
HENRY J. VAUX, JR.,
University of California, Riverside
Staff
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Director
SHEILA D. DAVID, Senior Staff Officer
CHRIS ELFRING, Senior Staff Officer
JACQUELINE MACDONALD, Senior Staff Officer
GARY D. KRAUSS, Staff Officer
ETAN GUMERMAN, Research Associate
JEANNE AQUILINO, Administrative Associate
ANGELA F. BRUBAKER, Senior Project Assistant
ANITA A. HALL, Administrative Assistant
MARY BETH MORRIS, Senior Project Assistant
ELLEN DE GUZMAN, Project Assistant
Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chair,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JAMES P. BRUCE,
Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Canada
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
University of Texas, Austin
JERRY F. FRANKLIN,
University of Washington, Seattle
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
DEBRA S. KNOPMAN,
Progressive Foundation, Washington, D.C.
PERRY L. MCCARTY,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
JUDITH E. MCDOWELL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
S. GEORGE PHILANDER,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
THOMAS C. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
ELLEN K. SILBERGELD,
University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
GREGORY SYMMES, Reports Officer
JAMES E. MALLORY, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
SUSAN SHERWIN, Project Assistant
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Preface
In early 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Wastewater Compliance and Enforcement suggested to the National Research Council's Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB) that it should consider undertaking a study of public health and public perception issues associated with the use of treated municipal wastewater and sludge in the production of crops for human consumption. At the time, EPA was just finalizing the Part 503 Sludge Rule, Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge, and one of the major implementation concerns was with the food processing industry's reluctance to accept the practice. When EPA first promulgated criteria for land application of municipal wastewater sludges to cropland in 1979, some food processors questioned the safety of selling food crops grown on sludge-amended soils and their liability. In response, the principal federal agencies involved—EPA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—developed a Joint Statement of Federal Policy in 1981 to assure that current high standards of food quality would not be compromised by the use of high quality sludges and proper management practices. Nevertheless, the food processing industry remains concerned about safety and market acceptability, and at least one company has adopted an official policy that bans the purchase of any crops grown on fields receiving municipal sewage sludge or treated municipal wastewater. With the issuance of the Part 503 Sludge Rule in 1993, public concerns with a number of technical, regulatory, and environmental issues have surfaced. Because cropland application of both sludge and wastewater represent important management options, municipal wastewater management officials have a vital interest in the feasibility of these practices.
Therefore, in mid-1993, WSTB formed a committee representing diverse expertise and perspectives to conduct an independent study of the safety and practicality of the use of these materials for the production of crops for human consumption. The study sought to review (1) the historical development, rationale, and scope of the practice of treating municipal wastewater and sludge in the United States; (2) wastewater treatment technologies and procedures for agricultural use of these materials; (3) effects on soils, crop production, and ground water; (4) public health concerns about microbiological agents and toxic chemicals; (5) existing regulations
and guidelines; and (6) economic, liability, and institutional issues. The committee based its review on existing published literature and discussions with experts in the field. The committee was not constituted to conduct an independent risk assessment of possible health effects, but instead to review the method and procedures used by EPA in its extensive risk assessment, which was the basis for the Part 503 Sludge Rule.
The committee met five times over a 17-month period including field visits to the Irvine Ranch Water District in California, the CONSERV II Water Reclamation Program of Orange County and Orlando, Florida, and the Disney World, Florida reuse programs. The committee also held a one-day workshop at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey to hear from researchers, public interest groups, farm credit bureaus, farmers, and state and city planners on land application of municipal sludge in the Northeast.
The committee focused primarily on the issues surrounding the use of treated municipal wastewater effluents and treated sludge in food crop production, concentrating on the uptake of chemical constituents and pathogens by food crops. The study did not include an investigation of what happens after the crops are harvested (e.g., processing of food products). Further, the committee was not constituted to evaluate site-specific implementation of wastewater effluent and sludge reuse projects, or to compare the relative merits and risks of various other forms of disposal or beneficial uses. However, the committee recognized that in addition to the safety and practicality of using these materials on food crops, there are many implementation issues involved with the agricultural use of municipal wastewater and sludge including the degree to which the regulations are implemented and enforced, the public confidence in local reuse programs, local nuisance and traffic problems, environmental and product liability issues, and overall public perceptions. In several of these areas, this report notes particular findings that should receive the attention of federal, state, and local authorities responsible for implementing reuse projects.
It is hoped that this report will be particularly useful to food processors, states, and municipalities in assessing the use of treated municipal wastewater and sludge in producing crops for human consumption. It highlights public concerns and regulatory issues likely to be faced, and also identifies some additional areas for research.
The Committee on the Use of Treated Municipal Wastewater Effluents and Sludge in the Production of Crops for Human Consumption consisted of 14 members with experience in soil and crop science, agricultural engineering, wastewater and sludge treatment, soil microbiology, toxicology, ecology, infectious disease, public health, economics, law, and other relevant fields. The committee gained insights from a far larger group by inviting guests to its meetings, participating in field trips, and reviewing the literature. My great appreciation goes to the committee, each of whom gave significant time and energy to create this report. Additionally, I would like to thank Rufus Chaney and Richard Bord for providing their time and resources to the study. I want to thank the staff of the WSTB, especially Gary Krauss, study director, and Mary Beth Morris, project assistant. I would also like to thank the study sponsors: the EPA, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the USDA, the FDA, the National Water Research Institute, the Water Environment Research Foundation, the National Food Processors Association, the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, California's Eastern Municipal Water District,
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