Sludge May Be Degrading Groundwater, Oklahoma City Council Is Told

By William Crum Staff Writer wcrum@oklahoman.comAn Oklahoma City mother said Tuesday that sewage sludge spread on farm fields may be degrading water that supplies rural residents' wells. Paula Yockel last month raised concerns about windblown pathogens she believes are responsible for illnesses affecting her family, including her elementary-age son. "Not only does living downwind to land-applied sewage sludge make my family sick, we believe it is also contaminating groundwater," Yockel told the city council. Later Tuesday, the Water Utilities Trust voted to have a consultant review the concerns expressed by Yockel and others living near farmland treated with sludge in rural northeast Oklahoma City and eastern Oklahoma County. Chairman Pete White said he was determined to find alternatives to converting the byproducts of sewage treatment, known in the trade as biosolids, to fertilizer. "I don't think I personally am going to be satisfied if the decision is it's still OK to do it, period, because I think it is a bad way to dispose of sludge," he said. Yockel described collecting water from two wells, nine miles apart, and having laboratory tests run on it. One sample was from an outside faucet at Jones Middle School, she said.Read more on NewsOK.com