Rufus Chaney

Rufus Chaney is a sewage sludge proponent. He is the senior research agronomist at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service. He has worked for the USDA for 33 years and his research focuses on "risk assessment for metals in biosolids, soils, and crops, and the food-chain transfer and bioavailability of soil and crop metals to animals."

Working Relationship with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
In 1992 the EPA modified its "Part 503" technical standards which regulate sludge application on farmlands. The new regulations used the term "biosolids" for the first time, and sludge which was previously designated as hazardous waste was reclassified as "Class A" fertilizer.

Chaney "championed" the co-authoring of the "Part 503" revisions with Al Rubin, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist.

Chaney and US Composting Council
The US Composting Council doles out an annual award it has dubbed the "Rufus Chaney Award for Research Excellence." According to the USCC website, the Rufus Chaney Award for Research Excellence is, "Awarded to an individual who has displayed excellence in the area of compost research over a period of many years. This award recognizes those individuals whose breath of research and/or research findings have had a significant impact on the composting industry and/or end users of compost. A nominee must be active in compost/composting research for a minimum of 10 years."

Working Relationship with Sludge Proponent Sally Brown
Chaney and sludge proponent Sally Brown have worked together extensively on scientific studies that "found" and implied sewage sludge, referred to by the PR euphemism "biosolids compost," is a viable soil amendment for lead, cadmium, arsenic and chromium-contaminated lands. Brown is a University of Washington research associate professor and self-professed "soil scientist." Brown has worked extensively on marketing "biosolids composts", amending contaminated lands with sewage sludge and promoting the consumption of produce grown in toxic sludge. You can view synopses of several of their co-authored articles here:


 * Zinc and Cadmium Uptake by Hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens and metal tolerant silene vulgaris grown on sludge-amended soils, co-authored by Brown, Sally L., Rufus L. Chaney, J. Scott Angle, Alan J. M. Baker, Northwest Biosolids Management Association, 1995. Accessed April 4, 2011.


 * Development of the US-EPA limits for Chromium in land-applied biosolids and appplicabililty of these limits to tannery by-product derived fertilizers and other Cr-rich soil amendments, co-authored by Chaney, Rufus L., James A. Ryan, Sally L. Brown, 1995. Accessed April 4, 2011.

Case studies

 * You say biosolids, I say sewage sludge
 * The EPA's plan to bypass opposition to sewage sludge disposal

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Sally Brown
 * toxic sludge
 * Food Rights Network
 * biosolids
 * sewage sludge
 * Ned Beecher

External resources

 * A Plain English Guide to the EPA Part 503 Biosolids Rule, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, October 13, 2010. Accessed April 4, 2011.

External articles

 * Zinc and Cadmium Uptake by Hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens and metal tolerant silene vulgaris grown on sludge-amended soils, co-authored by Brown, Sally L., Rufus L. Chaney, J. Scott Angle, Alan J. M. Baker, Northwest Biosolids Management Association, 1995. Accessed April 4, 2011.


 * Development of the US-EPA limits for Chromium in land-applied biosolids and appplicabililty of these limits to tannery by-product derived fertilizers and other Cr-rich soil amendments, co-authored by Chaney, Rufus L., James A. Ryan, Sally L. Brown, 1995. Accessed April 4, 2011.