Neighbors Complain About Human Waste in Fertilizer

Some neighbors don't like the fertilizer Lee Wulfekuhl has been spreading on his crops near the Dubuque County town of Holy Cross.

[justWOW]

how long has the Ellerbachs lived in the country??? what do they think living in the country consists of?? I've had lots of city people move into the country and then complain about common farming practices..

[yep]

I agree with you about the city people moving to the country. They say they want to get back in touch with nature but then they complain about nature. They'll whine about the smells of farming, the ag equipment that "shouldn't be on the road" , complain when animals get into their flowers or gardens etc.

I think in this case though at least some of the problem is that the use of human waste as fertilizer isn't a common practice and that the smell is much worse or different than the animal waste that is commonly spread on the fields with a manure spreader or "honey wagon" for liquids.

I always thought that human waste was not supposed to be used on crops, we were never allowed to do it on the farms I worked on but according to the news report it isn't against the law. Learning something new every day .

[MaureenReilly]

The people complaining are the Ellerbach's, and they have been living there for over 30 years and they are farmers.

So stop sniping about them being some kind of city slickers.

Many farmers complain about sewage sludge, and many consumers don't want to eat food grown on sludge. Sewage sludge contains human pathogens and industrial chemicals and heavy metals.

But the farmer is the sludge hauler and sludge spreader...so Wulfekuhle Injection gets a contract from Cedar Rapids for $1.6M and he spreads the sludge on his father's land and his uncle's land. But he has not followed the regulations.

He just dumped Dyersville sludge into a manure pit on his father's farm.

You can sign up to the list serve to learn more about sludge. Its free.
Maureen Reilly
Sludge Watch

[yep]

Didn't say the Ellerbachs were "city slickers" just that i agree with the person with regards to city people coming out to the country and expecting the farmers to change. i didn't mean to imply that they themselves were doing this,just that it does happen alot.Sorry I didn't state that clearly, it was late , I was tired.
I actually live not too far from all of this,about 5 miles away or so and I don't ever recall being able to dump human waste on a field. Didn't know that was even legal. The city of Dyersville did get nailed for this after the complaints because they failed to follow the rules and they were ordered to remove it. Saw it on the news a little while ago. i didn't catch the time frame they were given or any fines etc.

When you farm you have to expect smells, when you live in the country you have to expect it to smell like the country , but I too don't think I would want the human waste smell near my home . It's not the normal manure smell and I doubt any of us would want our neighbors to dump it on their yards so why be suprised when the Ellerbach family didn't like it either?

[Oh No]

Are you saying Lee Wulfekuhle is hauling Bio Solids out on farm land . Oh No !! Bio Solids are Toxic Chemicals that may come Hospitals, factory's , funeral home's, heavy metals, stuff dumped down drains. You name it , it's in there.
Think about it Animals eat what comes off that ground than, we humans eat the animal. And do you think this is right !! I'm sure there are other sludge haulers out there . This needs to be Stopped. There has to be another way of getting rid of this sludge !! And I'm sure there is !!!
This is a major problem for this World. We all could get very sick from all this Bio Solids. Than what complain when it's to dam late ! I sure hope this is not put on Gardens that we eat from..

[Oh No]

Google - sludge watch

Google- www.sludgefacts.org