[Winona Online Democracy]
Mike
Kirschmann makes a good point about knowing what's in our sewage sludge
that gets spread around, but it seems to me the comment "all talk of
long-term planning is for naught" without answers on this issue is
overreaching. We need long-term planning because development will happen
whether or not we do anything differently about sewage and sludge. We need
to do long-term planning AND analyze our wastewater system.
Phil
Carlson, Mpls
The recent discussion thread has
largely been about land use planning, and current activities at both the city
and county center
on updating zoning ordinances and
comprehensive land use plans. The topic of feedlot planning has
certainly gotten much press too. What's missing is a discussion of how
we handle the increase in sewage waste that comes with growth, particularly in
an area with all the known karst features we have in the rural Winona
area.
The past couple of weeks city "slinger"
trucks have been passing my house almost non-stop. These trucks come
from the city waste water treatment plant and carry dry concentrated sewage
sludge which they spread on rural crop lands. This
concentrated sewage sludge includes such things as human waste, medical
compounds, heavy metals, industrial by-products, and anything humans flush
down their toilets or pour down their sinks. The crop lands which receive this sludge grow food for animals
(dairy, beef, pork) and humans. Ironically, these trucks were even
hauling on Earth Day.
What will be the long term effect to our
community and the health of those who might unknowingly consume food grown on
fields of sewage sludge? Who monitors the rate at which it is
spread?
It seems that all talk of long-term
land use planning is for naught if we first don't find a more
environmentally sustainable way to handle our waste products. Don't
we first need to find land uses and waste handling systems that utilize
respect for the economy and environment when we talk about long range
planning?
Mike Kirschmann
PS The liquid components from the waste
water treatment plant are "treated" and then diluted by pumping them into the
Mississippi.
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