Milwaukee, Wisc.-Investigators have concluded that the polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) that got into the Milorganite fertilizer production process were from 40- or 50-year-old sediments that were dislodged during sewer cleaning and ended up contaminating sewage sludge, according to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD). “It wasn’t a matter of dumping, which was suspected early on,” reported Milorganite Marketing Manager Jeff Spence. “It was the result of something that went into the sewer from industrial areas decades ago.” Spence said procedures are now in place for testing before the sewers are cleaned and isolating any material that could contaminate the waste streams. He said MMSD has also initiated pretreatment programs, along with increased production testing. At the same time, non-salable fertilizer continues to stack up, exceeding 4,000 tons at the Jones Island treatment plant where Milorganite is produced. Spence added, however, that PCB content – which peaked last month at 107 parts per million – has declined steadily to 16 ppm. “None of this got out into the general flow,” Spence insisted. The local press predicted that suspending production will impact Milorganite markets by depleting stocks within a few weeks, and “there is no way the sewerage district can fulfill all of its routine customer demands across the country this year.” But Spence was more upbeat, noting that because of the traditional slow-up in fertilizer sales this time of year “there is still enough product in the channel to take care of current demand.” Resuming shipments, he explained, depends on how soon Jones Island can get back to the normal level of “no detect,” or no more than 1 ppm of PCBs, by “just running the system until (it) clears itself out.” At that point, he added, there may be some “house cleaning” required at the plant, depending on directions from EPA officials. MMSD also will have to dispose of the thousands of tons of “quarantined” material, either at landfills if the contamination is low enough, or by incineration or chemical treatment with approval of EPA. Meanwhile, EPA and state tests show what Spence described as “promising results” at numerous park locations where 11 tons of non-salable fertilizer were applied after being donated by MMSD. Most of the sites, he reported, are coming up clean, while only one out of 70 samples so far showed 2.7 ppm – well below the 10 ppm allowed by EPA and, according to Spence, possibly indicating that the contamination may already have been there. He stressed that this is preliminary data, and final approval on opening the locations to the public will have to come from EPA. Spence said Milorganite officials worry about damage to the safety reputation built during more than 80 years in the business. Since 1926, when the product was introduced for golf courses and growing citrus, its logo on 40 and 50 pound bags has become familiar in home and gardens and in larger and smaller pellet size for professional users and greenskeepers, while maintaining a consistent 6-2-0 NPK. Between 40,000 and 50,000 tons are sold each year, primarily in the U.S. and Canada, and also for export.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain