YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK.

Local septic pumper/hauler rents a small parcel from me each summer for disposal purposes. I get a few $ and the free fertilizer. For his trouble, he gets to be pushed around by the state and local health departments. For example, when he started, they had to come out and inspect the plot(s). Wanted two plots, that he could use alternate years. I suggested several plots, so I could incorporate used plot into crop rotation, and plant something in it, recovering the fertilizer. And as I explained to the "soil scientist" it would reduce the chances of buildup of heavy metals, etc. He looked at me like he thought I was crazy, but finally allowed as I might have a point. He's the one with the degree in "soil science," I'm the one with the degree in hard farming, (oh, and a degree in chemistry and science).

Well, now, they want soil samples of all the plots, new and used. NOW! OK, so in the last two weeks, we had a warm spell and over two inches of rain, since then, temperatures in the single digits, even negative single digits. Ground is wet and frozen down real good! Hauler is out there right now with a spud and a pick-axe trying to liberate soil samples. Couldn't wait till March, when soil starts getting a little soft! Probably they want them just so they can check off a bunch of little boxes on their stupid forms, so they can justify their existance...

The city hauls out to different farms occasionally. They have to post hazardous material warnings around the farm. Probably not going to work for organic farming. LOL

Are you kidding?? They let you dump septic waste right on the ground? Around here it all goes to a treatment plant to be treated, than sold back as compost, or what we call crum!

It sounds like your renter is the one who doesn't have his stuff together (sorry for the bad pun).

Seriously, dealing with the government is your renter's responsibility, he shouldn't be burdening you with it. If your renter doesn't have a plan to comply with pollution regulations he could leave you with a big mess and stick you with an expensive cleanup.

I can"t believe Michigan allows raw human sewage to be disposed of like that. Here in Virginia it must be treated at a waste water treatment plant, then lime- killed over several months. It is then tested by health department before relaesed for applying on-land as biosolids. Even then there are very stringant set-back rules for streams, houses,roads, etc. But it has no cost to landowner, and with the high Ph, it supplies all the lime needs for land.
I sure would not want to live downstream or down wind of you. LOL!!

I think Richards is unloading right out in the local sewer ponds now isn't he? Don't think Joe even does surface application of it anymore.

Remember when Kosten put up that Slurry Store over on Holland Lake Road and was going to take the solids from the city of Greenville and apply them along with the dairy manure? Just as soon as word got out about what he was going to do,the waste material hit the fan so to speak. That blue thing came down even faster than it went up.

On another note,somebody was here about two years or so ago,said they had to clean the solids out of the ponds out at the college. Wanted to know if I had any place they could put it about September. I told them yes,I'd have the silage corn chopped by then and they could put it on that ground. Don't know what happened,they never came back.

Thanks for letting us know that at least in this case the government is doing what they are supposed to be doing.

And cities on the east and west coast just dump theirs right into the ocean. That's why you never go to a beach around Los Angeles or eat a fish caught in the Atlantic anywhere near New York City.

I just don't understand the differentiation, myself.

We'll willingly wade into one kind up to our armpits, handle it with our bare hands, get it splashed in our faces, and spread it a foot deep on our fields, but because the other kind comes from people, it's "EEW EEW EEW!"

WHOA - guys! He's injecting it with a pull behind cart with 2 tines that open the soil ahead of the injector tubes. Disks over after application with conventional tractor/disk combination. All OK'd by the Health Department.
Inspected regularly and unannounced. Other option is to haul it to a municipal system 30 miles away, and pay many $ for his deposit.

On the other hand, right to farm laws allow me to put animal wastes on the land with little or no interference. Can even spread liquid on hayland without incorporating..... You tell me the difference.

Actually I believe it is treated somewhat and then applied to the ground via an injector system off the rear of the tank. Kinda looks like a sub soiler of sorts. So it really is injected into the ground and doesn"t lay on top of the gound like cattle manure. At least that what they do to a couple of the fields down here in Barry County. Never seen them just spread it on top of the ground. I would"t think that would be allowed,..but who knows ?

actually you can use it once in every 10 years as an organic farmer, but it has to be composted for 1 year first.

Septage, I think that's what they call it, can be applied to fields in IL. They're allowed a certain number of gallons per acre. Must be disced after application. Must be a certain number of feet away from residences. This was a hot button issue locally about 20 years ago. They tightened the regs up a bit at that time.
A local septic pumping company was hauling animal waste from a hog processing plant and dumping it on fields. So much that hog guts would wash in the drainage ditches. They can't dump the animal guts anymore.

On the other hand they go to great lengths to regulate septic systems.

Muskegon waste treatment has several center pivot sprinklers that disperse treated waste over crop land. It is a facultative lagoon system with center-pivot irrigation system for land application of treated effluent.

www.co.muskegon.mi.us/wastewater/

Do you even realize what people flush down, besides the
human waste?? I can't post on here, but I wouldent want that
dumped on my land,

I had septage applied to a field of mine once. The next year I had a great crop of tomatoes. I guess tomato seeds survive anything.

We put sludge on 100 acres a few years ago. It produced very well the second year. The sludge was sterilized by the waste treatment. I am surprised you can apply untreated sludge.

And if your ground has good PH the government will not let you apply that treated waste. You see you will raise the PH so high the heavy metals will be released.

Metals dont go away they just accumalate

jimmy

Depends on the metal. Back in the 80's I was a temp at P&G, we were working on a treatment for ulcers. Our animal tests showed that bismuth actually did slowly clear from the body. This was good news because P&G made Pepto-Bismol.

The ulcer medicine went nowhere because somebody else discovered that ulcers were caused by a bacteria and could be treated much more effectively with antibiotics.

(quoted from post at 23:05:15 02/04/13) Depends on the metal. Back in the 80's I was a temp at P&G, we were working on a treatment for ulcers. Our animal tests showed that bismuth actually did slowly clear from the body. This was good news because P&G made Pepto-Bismol.

The ulcer medicine went nowhere because somebody else discovered that ulcers were caused by a bacteria and could be treated much more effectively with antibiotics.

Click to expand...

I am sure most P&G employees would make sure the data was in favor of one of their main revenue streams. I worked for a large corporation for may years too. We had to keep testing until the data worked for the direction of the company. It was the erroneous data that was used for their marketing campaign, not the actual results. I won't say its that way everywhere, but at the company I worked for it was..

This was data for the FDA, no fudging, no erasing,
all data would have to be turned in. All data, not
just the runs you liked.