CMBG’s environmental impact
Dear Editor:
At a Board of Appeals meeting, CMBG was questioned about the products they use in their gardens. They said the products are organic, everyone was relieved, and the meeting continued. Unfortunately, it turns out that organic doesn’t always mean “that” organic. It is not the “certified by MOFGA” organic that we assumed it to be.
One of the products used by CMBG is made by a company called Casella, which got its start in waste management. Casella’s website features CMBG as “an avid user” of Nutri-mulch. The website lists the components of Nutri-mulch as sawdust, woodchips, and municipal biosolids. Municipal biosolids is a euphemism for sewage sludge. While using human waste might not sound pleasant, it is not the problem. Fortunately, the composting process is able to eliminate most pathogens, but what about the chemicals?
According to an article by Sue Smith-Heavenrich found on the MOFGA website, “Pesticides, PCBs, dioxins, radioactive wastes, asbestos, heavy metals and petroleum compounds are among the pollutants found in sludge after municipal waste has been treated.” Astonishingly, the EPA regulates only a fraction of the thousands of chemicals that can be found in municipal waste. The results of a google search on the topic did not do much to allay my concerns. Those most in favor of the use of biosolids are the EPA, and the people involved in the sale of municipal waste. While some researchers do feel it is safe, many (including the USGS) express concern and conclude that more work needs to be done.
Mr. Cullina calls the landscaping around the new (disallowed) parking lots “the largest gardens in CMBG history.” The amount of sewage sludge-laced mulch in those gardens will be significant. The “organic” Nutri-mulch contains great nutrients for plants, but what else does it contain? Are we willing to take a risk in the watershed?
The more I learn, the more I feel that no one truly understands the full environmental impact of the giant parking lots. Or, maybe, CMBG does, but they’d rather not say.
Mame Anthony
Boothbay