DoD a customer (4.00 / 1)

Yes, one of Smith's major customers is the Department of Defense.  As his political career improved, the size of his contracts went up.  I would guess that if you ate peas, peas and carrots, or mixed vegetables in the military you may well have had some of Gordon's food.

To paraphrase from an old folk (?) song:

Peas, peas, peas, peas, eatin Gordon's peas
Goodness how malicious, eatin' Gordon's peas

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by: David Kowalski @ Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 21:44:56 PM CDT

As an Oregonian (0.00 / 0)

I've heard a lot over the years about Gordon Smith's environmental record at his frozen food plant, lots of illegal waste discharges into a nearby creek. He has also had a poor safety record, including the loss of life, and limbs. Most recently his wanton hiring of illegals, and the duplicity  and hypocrisy of his public position about immigration has hit the news.  

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by: Brigid @ Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 22:49:14 PM CDT

I hear ya, but (4.00 / 3)

People aren't illegal.

Calitics.com: The progressive community blog for California.

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by: Brian Leubitz @ Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 23:15:26 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

if you care about food safety (4.00 / 1)

and other aspects of food policy (industrial ag, sustainable ag, local foods, etc.), bookmark Jill Richardson's community blog on food issues, La Vida Locavore:

www.lavidalocavore.org

Jill Richardson is also "orangeclouds115," who is well-known for her "vegetables of mass destruction" series at Daily Kos.

Another great diarist and regular front-pager at La Vida Locavore is Asinus Asinum Fricat. He's been publishing a scary series on melamine in human food.

Join the Iowa progressive community at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 23:20:52 PM CDT

Good post, bad links (0.00 / 0)

Matt, fyi, your links for spinach, peanut butter, and tomatoes are broken ... thank goodness for local produce.

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by: Leslie in CA @ Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 23:50:22 PM CDT

Follow the law (4.00 / 3)

I'm a former environmental regulator and an environmental consultant specializing in sewage issues (I know, I know. I console myself with the motto "smells like money") While Smith's company is very likely doing something wrong, using biosolids (processed human sewage) as fertilizer in agriculture is perfectly fine under very controlled and regulated conditions. The pertinent federal regulations governing the use of biosolids on agricultural crops can be found in  40 CFR part 503. Some highlights:

1. You can only use treated sewage on fallow land or land where you are not growing low lying crops like lettuce or root crops (duh).
2. You can't overload the land. Typically, you can't spread more than about 2,500 gallons per acre.
3. You can't spread it when it has rained in the past 24 hours.
4. You have to lime stabilize the sewage before you spread it. Raising the pH above a certain levels is supposed to kill pathogens.
5. You have to be careful of heavy metal accumulation, especially in biosolids from sources that treat industrial waste. That has to be tested for.
6. There are extensive reporting requirements for those doing the spreading.

In general, I have no problems with the practice. Sewage treatment plants need to get rid of accumulated sludge somewhere and I think you can make a case that spreading it on agricultural land is better than some other options. The key to success here is strict adherence to environmental regulations. Violating these regulations can have serious environmental consequences. Sounds like Smith's company violated some of these regulations.

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by: PaulC37943 @ Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 06:32:00 AM CDT

Nice Summary! and a Question (0.00 / 0)

Hi Paul,

I'm Greg Comlish.  I want to thank you for your excellent summary of the issues with sewage as fertilizer.  Intuitively I like the idea of recycling our waste into fertilizer because it closes the loop.  That said, I really don't want to ingest fecal matter.

Consequently, I really appreciated your summary of the relevant regulations.

Can you give some more specifics on item 5: heavy metal accumulation?  

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by: Greg Comlish @ Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 08:33:16 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

your question (0.00 / 0)

Hi Greg, I'm glad my comments were useful. As to your question, heavy metals tend to precipitate out of wastewater during the treatment process and most of it ends up in the sludge. USEPA regulations state that the "preparer of the biosolids"  must test the sludge before they let it out of the treatment plant for agricultural use  Too much heavy metal concentration and the sludge must be disposed of some other way. The frequency of testing ranges from once a month to once a year depending on how much sludge is generated. The USEPA web site has a bunch of publications, both research and regulation summaries, about this issue. Hope that helps.

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by: PaulC37943 @ Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 10:44:24 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks. (0.00 / 0)

As an organic gardener, I have no problems with "closing the loop" so to speak, it is the only way agriculture can ever be sustainable. But there are right ways and wrong ways to do it. Thank you for pointing out the right way.

Montani semper liberi

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by: Sadie Baker @ Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 08:37:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]