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A Who's Who of the Players in the Sludge Wars

Behune, Tony, A "super great" 11 y.o. kid who became sick and died a miserable death after riding his dirt bike through sludge in Osceola Mills, Pa., 1994. Story The Pa. Dept of Environmental Protection first lied to the public, saying that it was a bee-sting. Then they concluded the cause of death was unknown and that there was no connection between Behune's death and the BS. Link Check out the last line in this state summary of the Behune case. It says for more information contact Alvin L. Thomas, Synagro General Counsel, at 713 369-1700. Sounds like the Pa. 'crats are deeper into Synagro's pockets than the Va. 'crats. Maybe that's why Pa. is the leading BS state and Va is second. Besides, if the cause of death is unknown, how can one conclude the BS was not involved? Here is Helane Shields' response to the Pa. DEP summary of the Behune case. Link

Blatt, Nancy, Director of Information, WEF. She is the pre-eminent BS bull-shitter in the country.

Conner, Shayne, of Greenland, NH, 26 y.o., died in his sleep on Thanksgiving 1995 about a month after BS was spread on a field just 300 feet from his home. His symptoms were eerily similar to Behune's -- unexplained respiratory distress. Both of the suffocated. The medical examiner concluded Mr. Conner died of causes unknown. Conner's estate sued Synagro in 1999 for wrongful death. Synagro settled on what it said was favorable terms. Mrs. Marshal, Shayne's mother, stated in the settlement agreement: "The science developed in this case did not prove that the sewage BS Synagro's predecessor applied on the Hughes Field in Greenland, New Hampshire, in October 1995 caused or contributed to Shayne Conner's death, nor did the science prove that the sewage BS caused any of the injuries or illnesses the other residents of Tuttle Lane allegedly suffered." News story.

Hadeed, Sam, BS spokesperson. Technical Communications Director, National Biosolids Partnership. Also spokesperson for WEF. 601 Wythe Street Alexandria, VA 22314-1994/T: 703-684-2418/F: 703-684-2492/ shadeed@wef.org Link

Kaufman, Hugh, An early EPA whistle-blower on the BS issue. He is best known for blowing the whistle on the EPA's inadequacies in regulating chemical wastes, and brought down Regan's EPA czar Anne Buford and her side-kick Rita LaVelle, who were doing funny things with the Superfund account. Link. Most recently Kaufman has chimed in on the Katrina disaster, calling the Big Easy a superfund site.

Lewis, David, PhD, An EPA scientist who tried to warn the upper level 'crats and the public that BS is nooooo good. Lewis is no mental light weight. In the late 1980's he became nationally recognized for his study of an HIV-infected dentist in Fla. who infected 6 of his patients. Lewis was the first to recognize that the virus could survive for extended periods outside the body.

Lewis has proposed studies in which he tracks BS pathogens, particularly viruses, using DNA markers. If, for instance, rotavirus DNA increases in a stream downstream from a BS field, then we have learned something important about the dynamics of rotavirus transmission from BS to waters. But the EPA refused to fund such studies. Instead EPA gave $650,000 to WEF to develop a PR program "The Rest of the Story" to debunk media attention about BS victims.

Al Rubin, John Walker et al. EPA BS-pushers ganged up on Lewis tried to impugn his character and his science and force him out of the EPA after Lewis published an article in Nature in October 1999 raising questions about the safety of BS. Descriptions of Lewis' travails are given by Caroline Snyder (link) and the National Wilderness Institute (link). Apparently, the guy is now somewhere in Africa working with AIDS victims. Somebody needs to write the screenplay.

Logan, Terry, PhD, a professor of soil chemistry at Ohio State University, once co-chair of the US EPA Peer Review Committee, which developed federal regulations that eased restrictions on sludge farming. At that time Logan also received $2,400 per month as a paid consultant and board member of the N-Viro International Corporation, which had developed a patented process for converting sludge into fertilizer by mixing it with dust from concrete kilns and heat-drying it to kill germs. At the recommendation of Logan's committee, the EPA promulgated a modification of its "Part 503" regulations to increase the levels of allowable heavy metals in sludge fertilizer. At the same time that Logan was involved in developing the new regulations, he held stock options in N-Viro whose value could have dropped substantially if he had recommended stricter requirements. See You say biosolids, I say sewage sludge - SourceWatch

O'Brien, Denis, PhD, aka, The Gutter Grunt -- A patent attorney by day, and a wanna' be BS meister by night, O'Brien is a Johnny-come-lately to the BS wars. He was trained in long-range gutter reconnaissance while holding an "entry level" position (as in entering the sewers) for the Ohio EPA. He prowled the gutters draining some of Ohio's worst steel plants, paint factories, and high schools, trying to intercept recyclable, unwrapped condoms headed for Lake Erie. You can catch his BS web site at . . . hold on, if you're reading this you've already found his web site. [What am I doin' talkin' in the third person anyway??? This is me.] denis@ThePatentGuy.net.

O'Dette, Robert, PD, DEE, VP of government relations, compliance and technical services for Synagro Technologies Inc. (Houston). He has testified before Congress on the beneficial recycling of biosolids. He also is a member of the steering committee of the National Biosolids Partnership (Alexandria, Va.).

Penncock, Daniel, April 1, 1995, 17-year-old Daniel J. Pennock of Robesonia, Pa., died of a staph infection 13 days after playing basketball on a field across the road from his home where a local farmer had applied Class B BS for eight years. This was a case David Lewis looked at and concluded that staph and rotavirus infections are common in people exposed to BS. Link

Rubin, Alan, PhD, Self-proclaimed "sultan of sludge." An EPA 'crat, BS-pusher nonpareil, and author of the Part 503 EPA BS regulations. Has been accused of heavy-handed tactics against those who oppose his suck-wind policies, including threatening BS warriors and intimidating EPA employees who oppose land application of BS. Here is a link to one of his threats that was reported to Congress. Link. This guy is one bad apple. Of course, any fool can get a PhD, so don't let that fool you. (Wait a sec', I have one too. Scratch that last slur.) Link to less than complimentary article that refers to a Time article that apparently wasted this guy back in 1999 -- I haven't been able to find a link to the Time article. I am told Rubin is now retired from the EPA and for hire to give "expert" testimony for either side of the EPA war.

Walker, John, PhD, One of the head architects of the EPA land application of BS program. If there is any one person who is responsible for the vast misery BS has caused across the country, it is this self-serving super-'crat. His bold vision of spreading human feces all across America, coupled with his deceitful claims of BS safety when he had no idea whether or not it is safe, put the likes of Synagro and Nutri-blend in business. Somebody needs to add up the total tons of mercury, nickel, chromium, and cadmium that have been spread on America's farmland over the last 15 years, and send this nematode a thank-you note.

WEF, Water Environment Federation, aka, Water Pollution Control Federation, aka , Federation of Sewage Works Associations. The WEF is the largest and most powerful pro-BS lobby around. In 1928 it started as the FSWA, then shifted names to WPCF, and in 1992 it renamed itself yet again to WEF. It has 41,000 members and a staff of 100. There's something suspect about organizations and people who keep changing names. WEF has received over $10 million in support from the EPA. In 1992, following the shift from "sludge" to "biosolids," the EPA gave WEF a $300,000 grant just to sell the public on sludge, er....BS.

WEF is perhaps known for its shameful role in the Lowry Landfill debacle. Denver had a secret deal to accept EPA superfund waste into its landfill, from whence it would become BS for city parks. The BS contained, amongst other contaminants, strontium-90. Adrienne Anderson, an environment ethics prof at U of Colo blew the whistle. WEF paid PR guy Steve Frank to trash Anderson. Here's the story.