Take Action
Join the fight to keep sewage sludge fertilizeroff of our land and out
of our food
and water.
Whether you're working to get the farmer next door to stop sludging
or you're just learning about this issue and want to do what you can, we've got
tools to help! Everything is in a downloadable PDF for you to print and
distribute.
Remember, we're here to help! Stay connected to the United
Sludge-Free Alliance members!
Sign up for our newsletter to receive
updates on US-FA activities, news, and events.
Join our Facebook
group. Visit our blog and tell us your stories in our Real Life Stories section. Making
the link between illness or damage to the environment and the spreading of
sludge is always a challenge in fights like these. Your stories help identify
the effects and demonstrate patterns. We want to hear about your success
stories, too! Share with others in the fight what worked for you!
Toolkit Downloads
The resources below are organized according to the main sections of our site. Talking Points downloads contain the important points you may want to make when you're talking about the issues in your community. The Articles section contains the best resources we've found to explain the issues. Special Features are pieces we've created to be handouts at our meetings and exhibition booth.
 ){kind=link}
United Sludge-Free Alliance's Policy Recommendations
- Remove the enforcement and regulatory divisions of all federal and state agencies from the political appointed administrative division. Remove inspector's "discretionary" option in reporting violations - inspector/regulators must be held responsible for reporting violations. Stop the "partnership" between the regulatory agencies and the industries they are meant to regulate.
- Remove the enforcement and regulatory divisions of all federal and state agencies from the political appointed administrative division. Remove inspector's "discretionary" option in reporting violations - inspector/regulators must be held responsible for reporting violations. Stop the "partnership" between the regulatory agencies and the industries they are meant to regulate.
- Strengthen the ability of local citizens and elected officials to determine their own community control of issues, such as sewage sludge disposal. Every citizen deserves the ability to have a democratic input of their health and safety impact.
- Developing testing procedures for pharmaceuticals, personal care products, home care products and other items constantly found in TNSSS as emerging contaminants. Any �organic compounds� found in sludge that benefit crops, are easily dismissed upon considering the worrisome compounds that negatively impacting human health, water quality, and the environment. Regardless of the superficial concern - and agreed potential dangers of land application of sewage sludge - the EPA and sludge industry have made no progress in developing the needed testing procedures.
- Institute additional national protective measures, especially in relation to surface waters. None of the current options are without negative factors. As we transition from land application of sewage sludge to instituting alternative uses for sludge, we must create regulations that are safer and stricter.
- Sewage sludge, should be more difficult to land apply by:
- Increasing the monitoring of sludge at the waste water treatment plant
- Restrict the quantity of sludge that can be applied
- Increase the setback regulation from water, wells and neighbors
- Continually test all wells and waterways located near fields that are sludged
- Require incorporation of sludge into the soil instead of spraying and �top dressing�
- Actively collect
health impact data. This top
priority of the National Research Council Report in 2002 has been totally
ignored. Our elected officials must step up to the responsibility of tracking
the real health impacts to citizens without any further delay. The data
collection instrument developed by epidemiologists at
- Funding and tax incentives for sewage sludge as an alternative fuel source must be supported nationally. Although there are new disposal options, the costs of those options are still too high to make them viable alternatives for many municipalities.
- Change the consumer cycle. Instead of introducing products, such as triclosan, and then learning about its toxicity after it's already permeated our homes and the environment, we need to be subjecting all potential waste products to testing BEFORE they become pervasive.
Organizing Your Sludge Fighting Group
Groups like United Sludge-Free Alliance are great for providing you with resources and information, but there is also a real value in forming a NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) group in your own community. You know your local community, landscape and networking opportunities. If you want this issue to change, you must get involved - no bureaucracy or big business will do what is best for you. Create a name that seems to portray the most pressing concerns in your area and start your group. Most important � please contact us at USFA! Our goal is to network people nationally. In this way, we can stay connected and send folks to you!
- Instead of the expense of a web site, refer folks to ours - www.usludgefree.org - for lots of info and updates. The more 'hits' we have, the farther up the listing we move when some one �Googles� the sludge subject.
- To save on expenses and still have internet access to your personal community fight, start a Facebook site or a blog. It's free! Surly there is some kid in your community who would love the opportunity to create the site and be your 'face-master'. And, it's free!
- Always have a sign-up sheet to collect phone numbers and email addresses at your meetings. If folks have an email address, it does not cost a thing to update everyone, gather people quickly and it helps build your base.
- Set out a 'donation' can at every gathering for folks to drop in a few bucks. As time goes on, you may have less people attending gatherings and this will help with expenses while interest is high.
- If you photocopy flyers and information for meetings, copy in black-and-white. It's cheaper than color copies and you still get the info out. If you want some papers to be eye-catching, print them on color paper to save money. Can you get printing donations from local businesses?
- Always include some contact number on at least one paper so people can contact you. The networking is important and some folks do not have email, so a phone number is important.
- Feel free to print our USFA info and article suggestions for your gatherings but also create flyers specific to your local issue, i.e. locations, tonnage, state and county laws, etc. Good luck! We hope these suggestions are helpful. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.