Farmers are liable for contamination, illness or death related to the use of sludge spread on their land.

The Maine Legislature recently shirked its responsibility when dealing with what has become a contentious issue in Maine and around the country: sludge.

Sludge spreading is certainly an environmental issue, definitely a public health issue but, at the heart of it, it is a democratic issue. Municipalities are not permitted to enact ordinances protecting themselves from the possible dangers of sludge if they are stronger than state law. And state law is pretty lax when it comes to sludge.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Protection call sludge “biosolids,” the sludge brokers call it “compost.” They all fail to mention that much of the sludge being spread in Maine is toxic. Mercury, lead, cadmium, dioxins and arsenic are just some of the concentrated contaminants that end up in sludge.

Sludge used to be dumped in the ocean. However, because of its toxicity it created dead zones. It is now illegal to ocean dump sludge.

The EPA, with a stroke of a pen and a Wall Street-like spin, alleviated the problem by simply changing the name of the toxic material to “biosolids” and started spreading it on land. Suddenly toxic sludge was good for you.

According to Environmental Science and Technology, “Soils tainted with heavy metals from industrial pollution and sewage sludge may poison organisms that live in the soil far more readily than thought. The finding raises fears that unexpectedly high levels of toxins are getting into the food chain.”

This is only one of many concerns cited by excellent journals reporting on possible hazards of sludge spreading.

Sludge, in and of itself, could be a useful material if it were not laden with toxic waste. But it is.

The Chinese have been using night soil for thousands of years with great benefit. Composting toilets provide usable nutrients for plants, and manure from nearly every conceivable animal is used to enhance soils for crops, once the pathogens have been removed.

But we are dealing with waste water treatment plants that have not only various industrial waste contributors, but millions of homes that excrete antibiotics, caffeine, estrogen, progesterone, pesticides, cleaning agents and various substances of unknown origins. Treating these wastes should not, by any means, imply safety. In fact, when treating water that is released through waste water treatment plants, the toxins concentrate further in the sludge.

There are three federal court rulings about sludge that we should keep in mind when regulating land spreading:

1. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals restated the case that sludge is a pollutant under the Clean Water Act and must be disposed of safely;

2. Washington District Federal Court ruling found that the EPA has no credible science to support the 95 percent limits for chromium; EPA arbitrarily removed it from the beneficial use section of part 503 policy; and

3. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found there was no scientific evidence to show sludge was safe, only scientific opinions and, there were just as many scientific opinions against its use.

The National Academy of Sciences states there is no evidence sludge is safe. It has requested EPA reconsider its outdated policy.

There are myths in our midst that must be dispelled.

One is “the dose makes the poison,” a 15th century saying that really no longer applies. That is to say, scientists discover more every day that even minute amounts of certain toxics can have serious deleterious effects.

Another is the “solution to pollution is dilution.” The continual dumping of any material, however small the amount of toxics, will eventually have a cumulative effect.

We must also keep the long-term cost in mind.

This “cheap” form of nutrient enhancement may well be cost-shifting the responsibilities onto possible health care issues, wildlife issues and cleaning up of the environment as it becomes clear that the practice of spreading industrial waste on land is harmful.

And what few people know is it is the farmer who is liable for contamination, illness or death related to the use of sludge. The largest benefit of sludge is not the nutrients it may provide, but the water content. Over time, yields on sludge-spread land decrease. Often the soil calcifies, due to the use of lime, and becomes virtually unusable.

Here is another saying that pertains: when in doubt, don’t.

We need to err on the side of health, safety and welfare, to look at this very difficult problem more creatively and more democratically and keep an eye on the long-term effects of how we are dealing with this now.

Kathleen McGee is director of the Maine Toxics Action Coalition.