Town officials and farmers involved in spreading sewage sludge are playing with fire. Lawsuits around the country are signaling a new era in the sludge wars.

People injured by sewage sludge are turning to litigation after being denied justice by the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s long standing policy of putting the sludge industry’s interests over public safety.

A jury in Augusta, Ga., recently awarded $550,000 to a dairy farm on hearing evidence that heavy metals in sewage sludge from the city’s wastewater treatment plant killed its cattle and poisoned the land.

In several states, lawsuits have been filled by people who became ill after drinking sludge-contaminated water or inhaling airborne pathogens blown off sites spread with sewage sludge.

Legal liability issues will spur a long overdue search for safe ways to dispose of sewage sludge. The day is coming when the prospect of stiff liability judgments awarded by the courts will make town officials think hard about hauling sludge to farms.

Russell P. Kaniuka, Farmington