Richard Honour

Richard Honour

May 20, 2015

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Live and Let Die

We see the endless death of biota in response to land-disposed sewage sludge, even though many life forms eventually recover or recolonize, but are there lasting adverse effects on the underlying soil, that substratum of all life? How is it changed? Can it recover? When? "But if this ever-changing world in which we're livin' makes you give in and cry, say live and let die."* No!

One of the key lessons of repeat visits to a forest area devastated by open dumping of toxic sewage sludge on the land surface and in the adjacent waters is that serial observations reveal the sequence of events in the death and recovery process, and its not good news. You need not be a biologist or other scientist to see and measure the adverse effects of land-disposed sewage sludge, whether in forests or on farms or rangelands.

Toxic waste is toxic waste, and the soils cannot accommodate such abuse for long. The function of the soil microbiome is to support life, especially direct plant life, if allowed to do so. What do we see when it is killed?

We observe the emergence of a few limited species of toxin-tolerant plants and fungi, but their altered distribution in turn modifies the natural distribution of animal life forms that feed upon such toxin-tolerant plants, with the ecosystem then being disrupted, and with the very concept of recovery in question. It's not fully recoverable for years, as far as we have observed!

While some few life forms appear not to have been affected adversely at all by inundation with toxic sewage sludge, others are killed by any contact, and may or may not recover for a year or more. Does that "Improve Wildlife Habitat?

Random images of a sludged forest have a story to tell, without need for analysis. Take a look! "What does it matter to ya, when you've got a job to do, you gotta do it well. You gotta give the other fellow Hell."*

Who is prosecuting whom for what? Who is giving "the other fellow Hell"?*

* Theme, 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die, Paul and Linda McCartney, Wings.

First nub of a new toxin-tolerant mushroom emerging from a dead stick in a sludged forest, seven months after inundation by land-disposed sewage sludge

A toxin-tolerant Mycena spp. emerging from organic matter in soil covered by land-disposed sewage sludge

Dead lichens and mosses among the unmonitored, land-disposed sewage sludge

Another species of lichen killed by sewage sludge, among dead mosses

Several species of dead mosses on a sludge-drenched log; slung for sure, but not at an 'Agronomic Rate'

Another species of lichen killed by sewage sludge, among dead mosses

A few sprouts of ferns and mosses are recovering, seven months after sludge dumping. Toxin-tolerant blackberries will appear soon.

A toxin-tolerant fungus of our interest

A Cup Fungus showing toxin tolerance, adjacent to dead lichens, presented on a bed of sewage sludge

Not much can live here in this forested wetlands, even seven months after indiscriminate sludge dumping, and after said sludges have been washed and leached by torrential rains

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About This Project

The Precautionary Group

We've discovered a few new mushrooms thriving in this harsh environment of land-disposed sewage sludge in Snoqualmie, Washington. We're testing these mushrooms for new antimicrobial properties. Microbes that survive exposure to toxic sewage sludge engage adaptive mechanisms that transform toxins into secondary metabolites.

Blast off!

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