City of Fortuna, CA, Sludge Compost Giveaway

The City of Fortuna, California is one of the several cities in California that has bio-solid compost giveaways. The bio-solids compost actually "contained sewage sludge from nine California counties".

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.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Sewage sludge
 * Biosolids