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Monday, April 28, 2008

Do You Know the Difference Between Hybrid and Heirloom Open Pollenated Plants?



What do you know about Hybrid plants vs Heirloom Open Pollinated plants?
Here’s the long and short of it:

An open pollinated plant has 1 parent; a hybrid has 2 parents.
Hybrid seed are seeds that result from the cross pollination of two inbred parent plants.
Open pollinated plants by contrast have only one parent line.
Many seeds offered for sale in packets, mail order and at nurseries are F1 hybrids, but there are many times that these plants won’t work. New varieties are created by a plant breeder, when they have uniform genetically stable inbred plants, they can consider creating new hybrids. To do so, pollen is moved usually by hand from the anthers of one inbred plant (male) to the stigmas of the second inbred plant (female). The seed will grow and as a result of this pollination is the ‘hybrid seed’. They are often preferred over open pollinators for a number of reasons. The parents were chosen for their strengths and to compensate for each others weaknesess, hopefully creating a new variety that is better than the best qualities of its parents.

Hybrids tend to be vigorous growers, uniformity of shape and earlier more sustained flowering., larger flowers or vegetables, or larger fruits.

Heirloom or Open Pollinated (OP) plants are simply varieties that are capable of producing seeds that will produce seedlings just like the parent plant. Not all plants do this.

Plant breeders cross breed compatible types of plants in an effort to create a plant with the best features of both parents. These are called hybrids and many of our modern plants are the results of these crosses.

While plants can cross-pollinate in nature and hybrids repeatedly selected and grown may eventually stabilize, many hybrid seeds are relatively new crosses and seed from these hybrids will not produce plants with identical qualities.

For example, each year new hybrid tomato varieties are offered. You may see them labeled as hybrids or F1, first filial generation (first-generation hybrid), or F2. These may eventually stabilize, but for the moment a tomato like the popular 'Early Girl' does not produce seeds that reliably have the features you expect in an ‘Early Girl’ tomato. Seed from hybridized plants tends to revert to the qualities of the parents, so tomatoes grown from seeds saved from your 'Early Girl' tomatoes might still be tasty, but not so early.

Anyone can select and eventually stabilize their own seed or even hybridize new plants, but plant and seed companies have recently begun patenting their crosses so that only have the right to reproduce the hybrids they’ve developed.

Hybrids should not be confused with Genetically Modified Organisms or (GMOs) which, can be any plant, animal or microorganism which have been genetically altered using molecular genetics techniques such as gene cloning and protein engineering. Plants like corn that has the pesticide Bt engineered into its genetic makeup to make it resistant to certain pests are GMO crops. Bt is a natural pesticide, but it would never naturally find its way into corn seed.

I personally like open pollinated plants. I like the idea of purchasing a package of seeds growing the plant, saving the seed from it’s fruit or veggie and then growing them again.

This provides my bee’s the work God made them to do, and I’m not playing God. I don’t want to be beholden to a chemical giant who might be the patent holder of a seed that I bought 20 years ago

Since the origins of Colony Collapse Syndrome has not been discovered yet, I think it best to go back to the old ways of doing many of the things of the past when it comes to gardening, and give our bee’s plenty of things to pollinate so they don’t wander into the Franken Fields of Corn.

To find out where you can order heirloom seeds that will produce year after year go to http://forums.seedsavers.org/ to learn about the importance of saving the seeds that we have for our future.

Happy Gardening!

Quote of the Day


"We Americans have no commission from God to police the world":

Benjamin Harrison, address to Congress, 1888

LIVE From The GOB Salisbury City Council Meeting

Sitting next to me is a Reporter from the Daily Times. Guess what Folks, they are also using a laptop computer now. GO FIGURE? LOL

I've decided not to go topic by topic as I did the last time.It takes away from allowing me to pass off any opinion as we go along. I will say there is a very small crowd here tonight, I had hoped to see more citizens show up. As a matter of fact, there's actually only two unusual taxpayers here and several college students. There must be a proclamation or something along that line. I'll be back......

The Mayor wants to renegotiate the Fire Service Agreement with the County. She claims they do a lot of work in the County and feels they should be compensated for such.

Lore' Chambers is looking to get a massive pay increase. Everyone else in the City will not get a raise but Lore' will.

Jim Ireton is getting ready to speak under Public Comment. FY03 3 Officer's were requested, no new Officers. 04, 05, 06, 07 & 08, no new Officer's were provided. The Mayor also took the alleged 10 Officers requested were removed from the budget.

Bob Taylor is now speaking. Bob is upset over the article last weekend in the DT's. Chief Webster asked for 6 new Officers and See asked for 4 new Firefighters. Again, the Mayor turned those positions down. He's talking about a supplemental budget, after April 15th. "The Mayor is putting the monkey on your back."

Mayor Tilghman said:
"Sham, Bogus, untruthful, we need to be careful with our words because we're responsible for our words." She stated this directly at Debbie Campbell. Are you people watching this on PAC 14? This is unbelievable. I'll explain more later.

If you're wondering at all who Louise Smith was threatening to throw out of the meeting, it was Bob Caldwel. It's almost impossible to sit through these meeting watching the expected votes to come through with certain Council Members. I'm dying to see her actually throw someone out. Bob continued to laugh, so you know and I don't blame him.

If you're watching PAC 14 Mayor, wait till I get up there under public comment. I just wish you were still here so I can address you directly but as usual you have walked out. However, I dedicate my comment to you Barrie Tilghman.

Gary Comegys has been text messaging on his cell phone the entire evening. It is completely out of line that no sooner does the Mayor leave, al of a sudden Gary is non stop on text messages.

I should also add, Louise Smith continues to wait till she hears Gary's vote on anything and once she hears his decision she then makes her own personal vote.

Were You Aware YOU Do Not Own The New Salisbury Fire Department?


That's right! The new Salisbury Fire Department was not Bonded. It is a lease/purchase, unlike the new Fire Department in Pocomoke. One of the main reasons why Chief See & Deputy Chief Gordy refused to accept around $60,000.00 as a donation from the Volunteers to flat out pay for ALL of the furnishings in the new Fire Station is because they had plenty of money left over to play with in which they could take into their LEASE of the building, so they leased everything in the joint.

This means everything you'll see inside this building will have a payment tacked onto it and thrown right into the taxpayers debt. Chairs, computers, furnishings, kitchen equipment, you name it, it's leased and the payments will last for a total of 20 years. I hope you're sitting because here's the monthly, yes, you heard me right, the MONTHLY PAYMENT!

$34,764.58 Per MONTH!

How are you liking this Mayor and Department Heads now?

Breaking News!


Susan has been found. She was found in Lewes DE. I'm confident her Family will give us the total update here. Thanks for the attention on this matter and the prayers. This has got to be a great feeling for the Family to know she's safe and alive.

Jim Ireton On Bill Reddish Show Tomorrow Morning


Mr. Jim Ireton will be on the Bill Reddish Show tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM. That's WICO, 1320 AM. Although Terry Cohen is a tough act to follow, I'm confident Jim will have a memorable interview as well as very informative. Don't miss it.

This weeks DVD releases:4/29/08

"27 Dresses" movie poster

Theatrical releases:

  • "27 Dresses"-Classic "always the bridesmaid,never the bride" chick flick romantic comedy stars Katherine Heigl-Widescreen
  • "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"-cinematic French film-Widescreen
  • "The Golden Compass"-dark fantasy stars Nicole Kidman & Daniel Craig,who also worked and appeared together in last years "Invasion". (trivia tidbit!)-Widescreen

Other movies released this week on DVD:

  • "First Knight"(1995)-Blu ray disc also available
  • "A Generation Apart"(1984)-Widescreen
  • "How She Move"-With featurette
  • "Oceans Eleven"(2001)-Blu ray disc also available
  • "Oceans Twelve"-Blu ray and DVD

TV on DVD this week:

  • "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones"-DVD set
  • "Beverly Hills 90210-The 4th Season"-8 disc set
  • "Paranormal State - Season 1"-3 disc set
  • "The Waltons-The Complete 7th Season"-5 disc set

Thats all for this week!

Is It Time For Everyone To Kiss & Make Up?


In case you hadn't noticed in the past few weeks I have been toning down this Blog and trying to stick more along the lines of news and information and not so much personal attacks. However, there are certain people and certain situations in which I find it even more difficult to, oh, how shall I say, bite my tongue.

I have spoken with several Salisbury Police Officers who are well aware of the new me and where I'm headed with my Blog as well as Firefighters and as you can clearly see, Barrie Tilghman and I are now best of buddies. It's the new and improved Joe Albero just waiting for that Bi Polar Moment. LOL

Seriously though, things have changed and I/we hope you're enjoying the new environment we've been delivering? I can promise you that I won't be on the warpath on certain stupid situations but someone has to show who the bigger man is and I'm making that first step.

Oh, sorry if I made you throw up a little in your mouth when you saw this photo. I haven't slept since it happened, so I know the feeling.

I should add, the nasty comments are being rejected as well. Considering this is my Blog, if the tone of your comment is out of line and or off topic, the comment will be rejected. One thing I can tell you is, less than 1/10 of 1% of the people visiting this Blog daily actually comment. That being said, if I lose some people visiting simply because I won't allow curse words or personal attacks, so be it. We hope you enjoy the new format.

Balls to the wall!!!!



A popular automotive fad has emerged on truck bumpers everywhere, and it ain't bumper stickers , and it goes way beyond those cutesy dog heads and boat propellers you see on trailer hitches ! As seen above, alot of guys are fond of those swinging bull testicle replicas made of materials ranging from metallic to rubber and the good ole boys in Florida are no different but lawmakers in the Sunshine State are trying to enact a law banning the ornamental gonads, and violations would be punished with fines.Can anyone say "pork"? What a waste of the states' time and only the latest example of such.
In Louisiana, legislation to ban those baggy falling-down pants was shot down and there is a good reason why. If I had a son who wore pants that way, I would b*tchslap him because its not proper upbringing and nobody wants to see the "plumber buttcrack" but it is a matter of taste-and you just cannot dictate that. As much as I hate those baggy pants, to make a legal issue of it and actually fine people for their choice in clothing would be akin to Communism.
As far as the debate in Florida over "bumperballs" goes,I have only seen a few "pairs" of the silver finished ones, and while they are tacky and,lets face it, testicles ain't pretty-real or replica-it is a matter of personal taste rather than outright obscenity. And they ARE fake-its not like the cowpokes are castrating live bulls and teabaggin' the highways with them! As long as Florida is enforcing common decency, maybe they can start letting state police ticketing those people with the annoying old "Bush/Cheney 2004" stickers-thats REALLY offensive!

SPD Press Releases

On April 21, 2008 at approximately 4:19 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police Department received a call to respond to the Donut Connection on Mt. Herman Road for the report of a robbery. Upon arrival, the officers met with employees and were advised that just prior two (2) suspects had entered the business. Below listed suspect # 1 approached the counter and requested change. When the employee opened the cash register, below listed suspect # 2 produced a handgun and ordered the employee away from the register. When the employee moved away, suspect # 1 removed the U.S. Currency from the register and both suspects fled from the business. There were no injuries. The suspects were described as follows:

Suspect # 1: Black male, 6’05” tall, wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and large sunglasses.

Suspect #2:
Black male, 6’05”tall, wearing a grey hooded Sweatshirt with unknown lettering, blue jeans, and also wearing large sunglasses

If anyone has any information concerning this incident they are asked to contact the Salisbury Police at 410-548-3165. CC # 200800013923

On April 22, 2008 at approximately 9:07 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police Department received a call to respond to the Frumex Store on Roland St. for the report of a robbery. Upon arrival, the officers met with employees and were advised that just prior two (2) suspects had entered the business. Below listed suspect # 1 approached the counter and displayed a handgun. One of the suspects then reached over the counter and took an amount of U.S. currency. Both suspects then fled from the business. There were no injuries.

On the same date, at approximately 9:51 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police Department received a call to respond to Papa John’s Pizza on N. Salisbury Boulevard for the report of a robbery. Upon arrival, the officers were advised that two (2) suspects had entered the restaurant and ordered a pizza. While the employee was taking the order one of the suspects produced a handgun and ordered the employee away from the cash register. The suspect then took an amount of U.S. currency from the cash register and both suspects fled from the store.

The Salisbury Police believe both robberies to be related, and the suspects are described as follows:

Suspect # 1:
Black male, mid 20’s in age, 5’11” to 6’00” tall, thin Build, wearing a black or dark blue hooded sweatshirt, and blue jeans.

Suspect #2:
Black male, mid 20’s in age, 5’11” to 6’00” tall, thin Build, wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and a blue knit cap.

If anyone has any information concerning this incident they are asked to contact the Salisbury Police at 410-548-3165. CC # 200800014091,200800014094

Pocomoke Citizen Comments on Move to New Firehouse

Dedication2:00 PM Sunday April 27th 2008 and the members of the Pocomoke City Fire Department are ready to welcome the community to dedicate the new Firehouse at 1410 Market Street.

While the Parade was in progress, it was a bittersweet event for those of us who live around the firehouse to see them move those 9-blocks away.



We have lived next door to the old Firehouse since moving to Pocomoke City in 1987 and they have been the best neighbors anyone could ask to have.

Many people think that the Pocomoke Tattler does not recognize the good things that happen in Pocomoke City and we would like to prove you wrong.

Yes our city is full of political issues but there is a certain amount of small town pride in having some of your own 'Hometown Heroes' do a job and do it well. The new firehouse was built on time and under budget with the only "grant money" being for the demolition of the portion of the building where the engines are housed which was built to modern 2008 specifications. A far cry from the City of Salisbury spending $10 million in taxpayer money, multiple cost over runs, major flaws and a price tag of over $1,500.00 per square foot.

Many people do not see all of the "behind the scenes" work that the members do and the amount of pride they take in simple tasks from washing & polishing equipment to tuning up their historic equipment to just talking about it.

Billy Sparrow on the old truck

Saturday afternoon I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with former City Councilman Bill Sparrow and a couple of 'the guys' listening to them "tinker" with the old engine until they had her "purring" and sounding great. It's great when two men who rarely ever saw eye-to-eye on city politics can spend a moment reveling and a piece of mobile history while talking about community pride and how good it has been to be neighbors for over two-decades. (Billy y'all looked great driving her down Market St during the parade)

Derelict Building

The early days of the transformation were a little rough getting started and when we "poked them" with pictures in an article about how the city code does not apply to "Friends of Boss Hogg" they took it a little more than personal and many firemen told me so. I suggested they do something about it and "prove me wrong" and it took less than a week for something to be done about that. (Don't mess with the Pocomoke Volunteer Fire Dept)
It was bad
Our fire department obtained an old derelict 'Food City' building out of bankruptcy and has turned an eyesore into a "crown jewel" the City will be proud of for decades to come. WELL DONE!!!
New firehouse

The pictures above and below were taken Saturday afternoon while the sun was shining and the members were buzzing like bees getting ready for today AFTER taking the time to pay their respects in full uniform, by attending the funeral for the widow of a long retired member. The members must be commended for taking time on the busiest day of the past several years to show their respect and one more example of why you have earned ours.

The dedication ceremony was well attended by people from all walks of life in Pocomoke, politics were placed aside for a few hours. Heck I even enjoyed sharing some chocolate covered strawberries with X-Councilman Honiss Cane himself during the festivities.

New PCVFD Firehouse
Stephanie, Alex, Raleigh, Grayson and I along with all the neighbors really hate to see the firehouse move but we wish the PCVFD the best in their new home.

Delegate Addie Eckardt Speaks Tonight!

Tonight State Delegate Addie Eckardt of District 37B will be speaking at the Wicomico County Republican Meeting held at the Chamber of Commerce Building of Salisbury on Main Street. Social time begins at 7pm and the meeting will start at 7:30. Delegate Eckardt represents parts of Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico Counties.

Rotary Must Be Desperate

Next Meeting Time & Place: May 1, 2008

Head Table: Pete Cooper, President Marion, Mayor Tilghman, and Gary Mackes

Guests: Heather Barton; Matt Tilghman, and Penny Nicholson

Announcements:

Bob Brown updated us on Romania Project. As of tonight he has raised $3600. The group needs $6,000. Make checks payable to Salisbury Rotary Foundation.
John Nicholson needs volunteers to help with the Steak Fry.
April 25 & 26: Salisbury Festival Wine Booth- Tim Sargent
April 25, 26, & 27: District Meeting in Annapolis
June 12: Shorebird outing. $30 per person for buffet. We need 50 people. See Bill Potts
June 19: Basket Bingo: Matt Maciarello provided an update. We are the only basket bingo with Elvis and a DJ. Still needs basket sponsors; $100 per basket.
Coastal Hospice Geranium flyers are on the table.
Main Program:

Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman reviewed the State of the City.

The City of Salisbury faces challenges and immense opportunities.
The mayor is forming an Environmental Policy Work group.
In the area of environmental concerns, the city created a living shoreline in the City Park. With regard to the North Prong project, the City has received a grant from the Coastal Communities Initiative, with a match from the City, to develop an action plan.
With initial efforts from Carol Turner, the City is controlling its energy costs.
The City is coming into the final year of the upgrade and expansion of the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Neighborhood quality of life has improved. The greatest success story is in the Church St. neighborhood. The City continues to work with Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service to promote home ownership. The City also continues to appropriate funds for the Home Conversion Grant Program. To date over 40 homes have been moved from rental units into home ownership since the beginning of the program in 2004.
The City addressed the issue of police retention. The Mayor and Council made a commitment to both benefits and salary. The result has been a fully staffed force and a corresponding reduction in crime.
Salisbury Fire Headquarters is complete with occupancy slated for later this spring. It came in on time and under budget.
The Mayor’s entire State of the City Address is on the City’s website.

50/50 Winners : There was no 50/50.

Enjoy Rotary!

I think I'll go just to make Matt Tilghman feel uncomfortable. Any time I'm around him he gets all bent out of shape. At least he'll now have a warning I may be there so he can put on some Depends before he arrives.

Pocomoke FD Relocates To New Station






You can't help but be proud of this community and its leaders in their Fire Department. Coming in at UNDER $2,000,000.00, this Station is as large, (if not larger) than the SFD's new Station and it looks twice as nice, seriously. I encourage each and every one of you to take a ride to Pocomoke and ask for a tour of their new facility. When you do so and see what they got for the money, you'll be calling the Feds to come to Salisbury and see just where $8,000,000.0 of the alleged $10,000,000.00 of your tax dollars actually went.

I'm not kidding Folks, something is seriously wrong here! Don't let anyone fool you into believing they simply converted an old Grocery Store either because I spoke with the Chief in Pocomoke and he assured me they took that building down to the dirt because there was no way the floors would stand up to heavy equipment as well as the fact that the building wasn't tall enough.

So not only did they buy the land, they had to demolish what was standing there, remove it and then start out new. Oh, did I forget to mention they did it for less than $2,000,000.00? Oh well, none of you care anyway, so it's no big deal.

Pocomoke FD Relocates To New Station II







While it is my belief the SFD tried to steal Pocomoke's thunder, they failed miserably. Salisbury had maybe 25 to 30 people participating in watching their parade and opening ceremony, Pocomoke had a thousand people participating in excitement. Now why, on the very same rainy day, was there such a huge difference between these exact same events? Because the Pocomoke Fire Department proudly built their facility for LESS THAN $2,000,000.00!

Between this post and the one above it, it will clearly show you, (seriously) that the Pocomoke Fire Station is as large, (if not larger) than Salisbury's. It's nicer and it cost $8,000,000.00 less than Salisbury's Fire Department.

THAT'S why people are celebrating! See & Gordy should have done things exactly the way Pocomoke did and the crowd would have been just as large. Instead, the Citizens of Salisbury couldn't care less about their multi million dollar toy chest. I happen to agree.

Salisbury Fire Department Relocates









While it was rainy and cold, the Salisbury Fire Department chose to move forward with their event, even though the crowd was very small and participation was small as well.

I guess I'm supposed to say with excitement, Congratulations Salisbury Fire Department. Sorry Folks but it's just not in me and my above Post will explain why.

Salisbury Fire Department Relocates II






While some of the Firefighters are relieved all the major hard work is over and they can now start spending some quality time with their families, some simply couldn't care less and never even showed up for this historic event.

That being said, this is not a knock on any of the Firefighters in any way, shape or form. Many of you know how I feel about this new Fire Station and the expense of such. A post later this morning will prove to you why YOU too should be up in arms and calling in the FEDS to investigate just where all your money went because this thing is a joke.

Budget talks are already under way and one of the major topics is Staffing. The Fire Department is way under staffed and the Mayor removed and such said personnel from the budget. A recent report during the Washington Street fire showed the Department only had three people on that Fire Truck that evening and the report showed they are usually under the minimum standard of at least three people on a Truck. It's simply not enough people to get a job done.

That being in question and the Mayor's refusal to allow additional Staff, the real problem no one is seeing is the FACT that the SFD is losing Volunteers in such volume, they're running the department on a shoe string.

I told everyone a year ago, not many will relocate to the new Fire Station and guess what, they still won't! Chief See & Deputy Chief Gordy continue to keep that quiet and deny any of that as being true but I'm right and they're wrong, period.

A prime example is the participation in yesterday's march to the new station. If that's all you've got as a Station, you're in trouble! Remember now, many people there wanted to be a part of the history of the event. Some still won't have anything to do with that Station's future.

I know many of you would like to see this as a fluff story for the new Fire Station but it is what it is and quite frankly the SFD is in deep trouble, caused by the two leaders of that Department. Do any of you realize how many retired Firefighters refused to participate in yesterday's event? Their not showing up spoke volume!

Does Salisbury Have Earth Quakes?


You have to wonder if the same construction company that recently built the new Fire Station is the same company that built the Downtown Parking Garage?

On the 3rd floor you can clearly see more structural cracks. Call it whatever you like, this structure is far too young to have such serious problems. Your tax dollars hard at work once again.

League Of Women Voters

The second Founder's Meeting for the League of Women Voter's will be
held at the Wicomico County Library at 7:00 PM in Room 3 on Tuesday 29 th of April.

The meeting will be short and intended to educate and get the group preliminarily organized in Wicomico County.

Terry Cohen On Bill Reddish Show


Councilwoman Terry Cohen will be on the Bill Reddish Show at 7:40 AM on WICO 1320 AM. Mrs. Cohen will be discussing the budget and I'd expect this to be quite an interesting show. Don't miss it!

Salisbury News Exclusive Photos







Talk about a busy day! I have been traveling most of the day, all over the Eastern Shore. Nevertheless, Carlos Gonzalez, B/M, 21, Salisbury, MD. and James Alfred Hill, W/M, 28, Salisbury, MD. have been apprehended. What started out as a chase from Laurel, DE ended on Mt. Hermon Road in Salisbury this morning. I received a call at 11:46 AM this morning informing me something big was happening on Mt. Hermon Road and here it is. Both men were transported to PRMC and were ultimately delivered to the WCDC no later than 3:30 PM today.

Grandad has a detailed Post below but I thought I'd add these unbelievable photos to finish the story off. I'm told the Delaware State Police, Maryland State Police, Worcester Sheriff's Department and the Wicomico County Sheriff's Department were all involved in bringing these two thugs down. Great Work done by ALL! Thank You!

More On Sludge, "The Whole Nine Yards"

Look closely at the Baltimore Orgro Lead Contamination Study:

"Biosolids compost amendment for reducing soil lead hazards: a pilot study
of Orgro amendment and grass seeding in urban yards"
by Farfel, Orlova, Chaney, Lees, Rohde, Ashley

Intro - Why is lead contamination allowed to continue in poor communities?

Many of us have been deeply shocked that in the USA rental residences that
have lead contaminated yards are not remediated....whether by order to the
owner, or at state expense. It is shocking that children living in these
housing units continue to be exposed to lead contaminated properties and
suffer neurological damage as a result.

What do they do with contaminated properties in Ontario Canada?

I recently asked Ontario officials what would happen if such contamination
were found in this jurisdiction.

I was told that this would be considered environmental pollution so as to
cause an 'adverse effect' and that when the provincial gov't became aware of
the problem they would order the property owner to remediate the problem.
If the contamination was linked to an offsite industrial source, then the
owner of the pollution source might receive an order to clean up the
properties.

The owners would likely hire consultants to come up with a remediation
strategy which the Ministry of the Environment would review, or the Ministry
experts would order a clean up..specifying how it would be done and when it
would be completed.

The site would be tested...and if say..the surface of the soil was the most
contaminated, they would remove the soil with the highest concentration if
lead very carefully..so as not to release it as dust during the clean up.
Then they would remediate the rest in such a way to minimize the amount of
fugitive dust, and in a way that would keep the lead away from being
dispersed.

So why doesn't this happen in the USA?

Let us compare this with what happened in Baltimore

In Baltimore the suggestion is that there was no lead remediation because
there is no industrial source responsible for the lead. Is anyone really
clear where the lead came from? I hear lead paint on the exterior of the
buildings, and maybe a now closed smelter in the neighborhood. (NOTE: Homes
near streets have soil contaminated by the lead in gasoline emissions. Lead
was removed from gasoline after a ground breaking 1979 study by Dr. Herbert
Needleman and the micrograms of blood lead levels was reduced from 40 mc to
10mc per d/L at the CDC. I am sending you an article from Discover Magazine
which talks about this AND check out the links to Dr. Needleman and how
industry tried to ruin him. I expect lead contaminates soil near busy
streets in all cities.)

So if it is from the homes, why are the owners not obligated to do the
cleanup?


Looking further at the Baltimore Farfel, Chaney, et al study. Remember now
that they spent $464,231 ...nearly half a million dollars on this project.

Did they remove any contaminated soil? No

Did they contain the contaminated soil? No

Did they take steps to be sure not to get dust into the air?
No - just the opposite.
They rototilled it - twice

Did they expose families and children to dust during the yard remediation? -
YES

First- by rototilling the lead contaminated soil twice

Second - Did they seek to make sure that the bare soil (some of it 5 or 6
times the EPA maximum for children's play area) was covered..so families
were protected from lead dust ? NO - indeed they took off all the plants
that were holding down the soil, rototilled the contaminated soil into fine
dirt, and then LEFT THE SOIL BARE. Instead of putting down sod to hold down
the contaminated dirt (contaminated with lead and whatever was in the
sludge) they just put grass seed on. (Did the study show pictures of straw
spread over the grass seeds?)

Third - They did not rope off or fence the now bare soil yards. There was
nothing to stop people from walking across the bare soil, crushing the
seeded soils, and tracking the lead and sludge contaminated soil into homes
and cars and tracking it into dust to blow around the neighborhood.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Since Cheney and Farfel believed the sludge was safe, what
made them think that the lead had been de-activated and no longer a human
health danger?

So what they did left this community MORE exposed to lead than before during
the course of the experiment. And even though they said the purpose was to
see if they could reduce the exposure of the residents to lead, they never
used ANY indicators to see if the experiment actually resulted in lower
exposure to lead.

Did they maintain the yards? No....only one yard was maintained by the
researchers. The residents were somehow supposed to maintain the seeded
yards.

Did they provide the residents with the means to maintain the new growth on
the lead contaminated sludge spread properties? No
Did they provide sprinklers and hoses? Lawn mowers? Push rotary mowers?

No. In fact the authors say a follow up study is needed to "assess the
ability of residents to maintain a grass cover". see page 93

Is there any evidence that the grass grew in these bare soil yards seeded
with grass - No.
There is only one photo of grass growing in a yard - which was likely the
one yard the researchers watered and maintained

So the researchers - claiming that the poor black kids would now ingest soil
that was mixed with sludge argued that eating the sludge amending lead
contaminated soil would result in lower lead levels in the children's' blood.
Not only did they not take steps to stop fugitive lead contaminated dust -
they argued that ingesting the sludge amended dust would be 'healthful'.

But they didn't check the children's' blood - neither before nor after the
experiment. They did not check for lead, they did not check for sludge
related diseases or conditions either.

Many questions are unanswered. Why did they not disclose the levels of all
the Part 503 and Maryland state sludge compost requirements? Why did they
fail to provide the required test results on selenium, molybdenum, mercury,
and PCBs? Why is there no data on the pathogens in the sludge compost? And
why were the residents not told that sewage sludge compost would be brought
to their homes?

The researchers declared the experiment a success - because they said that
the bioavailability of the lead in the amended soil was lower in the final
soil than in the unamended boxed soil samples.

Certainly some of the lowering of the lead levels was due to the dilution
effect. But - had they put far more lead dust into the community and the
community homes by their actions? As a result of stripping off the grass
cover and tilling up the lead contaminated yards and leaving them in a bare
and friable state have they dramatically increased the lead ingested by the
families and children? They never checked. Did the contaminants including
metals, neurotoxins, and pathogens in the sludge result in illness? They
didn’t check.

The researchers claim, in the study, that the original condition of the
yards - with a few bare patches of hard packed lead contaminated earth - was
a risk to the community from windblown dirt. So what did they do? They
took off all the plants that were holding down the contaminated soil,
rototilled it up twice to make it loose and friable, and then left it like
that - to blow around the lead contamination on a wholesale basis.

And of course, did the families - already weakened from lead exposure -
suffer other health problems because their immune impaired bodies now had to
deal with arsenic, mercury, and other toxins and endotoxic pathogens in the
sludged soil?

We don't know. They didn't do any health checkups. Not for lead. Not for
anything.

While explaining that they were looking for a cheap way for lead
contaminated residents to do a 'home fixer upper lead hazmat remediation'
these researchers arguably endangered these families.

Was there even one yard that was kept as a ‘control field’?

No

The researchers put some dirt from the yards in a container and kept it for
a year.

Even this dirt showed an 8% reduction in lead bioavailability.
If they really wanted to show that their treatment made a difference they
should have used one yard as a control. Maybe they did, and then just wrote
it out of the study?

Could any reviewer think it is not extraordinary to have an experimental
design that involves waiting a year, scraping off the top layer of soil, and
representing the results as an accurate representation of the soil
representing community exposure? But the journal “Science of the Total
Environment” refuses to say who peer reviewed this paper.

Project designed to achieve skewed results.

Here is a curious fact. When they did the first tests on the yards they
measured the dirt in the yards 'as is'. When they went back one year later
they scraped off the top - most contaminated - layer of soil off the
sampling site and THEN took their sample. Voila - lower levels of lead.


The project design on page 83 states:

“Thus, the composted biosolids amendment approach has the potential to
reduce risk from Pb in urban soils by
- reducing direct contact with bare soil
- -transfer of soil into the house and
- The bioavailability of Pb in ingested soil”

But we see that what the researchers did to the soil in the yards INCREASED
direct contact with bare soil, and was likely to INCREASE transfer of soil
into the house.

So lets look at Lead (Pb) bioavailability

Was there a genuine drop in lead bioavailability?
Hard to say. There is an intriguing note on page 93 that states that there
may be a drop in in bioaccessible lead “as a result of an artifact of
bioaccessibility testing in that the chemical reactions to make pyromorphite
occur during the extraction as well as in the field.”

So was the bioassessibility data in any way meaningful? Was the
bioassessibility only an artifact of the test methods they used?
Were there weeds at the test location ? In fact if there was clover growing
on some yards, the clover could have done a phytoextraction of the lead in
the soil samples.

And why are there suddenly only 8 yards under study? What happened to the
9th yard? Why is there no yard by yard data? Why is the data all averaged?

Dust studies

The big issue for community exposure was said to be the dust that could blow
into homes. So why is there no detailed analysis of this dust provided in
the study? Why are we told that dust followup studies are needed?
WHY IS THE DUST ON THE TOP OF THE FINAL SOIL TESTS REMOVED BEFORE THEY DO
THE ONE YEAR FOLLOW UP?

If the top layer of soil is such an important reflection of community
exposure, why is this layer removed in the experimental design, before
arriving at the soil test results at the one year followup mark? This
project was designed to advertise sludge as providing a method for lead
remediation, when in reality the testing by design was deliberately skewed
and fudged to provide misleading results.

Where is the community participation?

They claim they did this study with the participation of community
organizations?
Where is their input? Where are their comments on the study?
The researchers claim they sent the participants copies of the lead tests on
their yards. Why is this data not included in the study?

Were Occupational Health and Safety requirements met?

My understanding is that remediating a lead contaminated site requires
workers with respirators and hazmat training. These residents don't have the
equipment or training to do soil remediation. This is a preposterous
suggestion.

What about the money?

What the researchers do want is to find a way to get rid of all the sludge
compost. Interesting that the Orgro webpages say the sludge compost is
available for $3 - $9 per yard.
(http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_composting_baltimore_city)

But the Farfel paper says it is worth $30 per yard.

Did USFilter get a charitable receipt for their 'donation' of Orgro? Did
they inflate the value fraudulently to get a tax receipt for their
'charitable donation'?

And where did all that grant money go? The researchers brag that they did
this 'clean up' for only $150 - $350 per yard. Lets see...that is less
than $4000 for the whole nine yards.

Grant money of $446, 231 minus $4,000 which includes the $10 in food
coupons they gave each household as an inducement to participate and ...
lets see....
So what did they do with the other $442,231?

Where do we go from here?

WE need an audit of this experiment.
A science audit.
A toxicology audit.
An occupational health and safety audit.
A financial audit.
A granting projects audit.
An ethics audit.
We need an inquiry into what kind of research is being undertaken at the
expense of these lives.


Maureen Reilly
Sludge Watch
April 27, 2008