Ed Harrington

Ed Harrington is a Certified Public Account and the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. According to the SFPUC website, "Harrington was nominated for the role of General Manager by Mayor Gavin Newsom in January 2008 and was approved unanimously by the members of the SFPUC and sworn into service in March 2008. From 1991 to 2008, Harrington served as the Controller of the City and County of San Francisco, where he administered San Francisco’s $6.1 billion budget. Harrington’s responsibilities as Controller included receiving and disbursing City funds, estimating the cost of ballot measures, providing payroll services for the City’s 28,000 employees, issuing the City's financial statements and directing performance and financial audits of City activities.  Before becoming Controller, Harrington was the Assistant General Manager and Finance Director of the SFPUC and was responsible for the financial activities for the Muni Railway, Water Department and Hetch Hetchy Water and Power System."

Chez Sludge
The Food Rights Network released a major investigative report on July 9, 2010 titled: Chez Sludge: How the Sewage Sludge Industry Bedded Alice Waters. It examines collusion between the Chez Panisse Foundation and the SFPUC based on an extensive open records investigation of the SFPUC internal files. (To view the internal documents see: SFPUC Sludge Controversy Timeline.)

Toxic Sewage Sludge Given Away as "Organic Biosolids Compost"
In 2009 a major controversy erupted in San Francisco when the Center for Food Safety and the Organic Consumers Association called on the SFPUC to end its give-away of toxic sewage sludge as free "organic biosolids compost" to gardeners. A March 4, 2010, demonstration at City Hall by the OCA forced a temporary halt to the program. (See articles below)     The misleading labeled "organic compost," which the PUC has given away free to gardeners since 2007,  is composed of toxic sewage sludge from San Francisco and eight other counties. Very little toxicity testing has been done, but what little has been done is alarming. Just the sludge from San Francisco alone has tested positive for 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (a.k.a. DBCP), Isopropyltoluene (a.k.a. p-cymene or p-isopropyltoluene), Dioxins and Furans.

Articles and resources

 * Sarah Phelan, SFPUC shuffle: Powerful commission lies dormant until the mayor can find picks acceptable to the board, San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 6, 2008
 * Anna Werner, Concern Over SF Compost Made from Sewage Sludge, CBS Channel 5, March 3, 2010.
 * What SF calls compost, activists call 'toxic sludge, San Francisco ABC affiliate KGO TV, March 4, 2010.
 * Josh Harkinson, |+The+Blue+Marble%29&utm_content=Twitter A Backlash After San Francisco Labels Sewage Sludge Organic, Mother Jones magazine, March 4, 2010.
 * Photo Gallery: Activists Praise Poop, Deliver Dirt to Mayor's Office, SF Appeal, March 4, 2010.
 * Evelyn Nieves, Claim: San Francisco giving gardeners toxic sludge, Washington Post, March 5, 2010iving_gardeners_toxic_sludge_1267776881/>)
 * John Upton, The City’s free compost causes stink SF Examiner, March 5, 2010.
 * Jill Richardson, Food Sunday: Toxic Sludge as 'Organic Fertilizer', FireDogLake, March 7, 2010.
 * John Stauber, Waiter, There Is Toxic Sludge in my Organic Soup!, PRWatch.org, March 16, 2010.
 * Brady Welch, Shit show: What has the SFPUC has been dumping in city gardens?, San Francisco Bay Guardian, March 23, 2010.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * sewage sludge
 * biosolids
 * SFPUC
 * Francesca Vietor