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NY Sewer Sludge Stinking Up Alabama

By Associated Press

Human waste from New York is creating a stink in Alabama. A Texas company has opened a plant that treats sewer sludge from New York and turns it into fertilizer that is spread on Alabama farmland. NY Sewer Sludge Stinking Up Alabama

Published: Wed, October 03, 2007 - 5:47 pm Last Updated: Wed, October 03, 2007 - 5:57 pm

GOODSPRINGS, Ala. (AP) - Human waste from New York is creating a
stink in rural north Alabama.
A Texas company has opened a plant that treats sewer sludge from
New York and turns it into fertilizer that is spread on Alabama
farmland. It's a great deal for farmers, who get the fertilizer for
free. But some in northwest Limestone County say they can't stomach
the stench.
Bill Daws, a county commissioner, told The News Courier of
Athens, which first reported the flap, that the whole thing seems
to be legal.
Synagro Technologies Inc. of Houston, Texas, has a contract to
dispose of human wastes from New York. The company treats sludge
from wastewater plants in New York and ships it to Alabama by rail
car by the ton.
The sludge is treated again at a plant in Leighton before it is
spread on fields for farmers who sign up for the program, said
Rodney Jackson, who investigated the arragement for the Limestone
County Commission after complaints started coming in Friday.
Farmer Gary Peek said the free fertilizer is saving him a lot of
money and enriching pasture land.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)