This is done because of the identification of sewage sludge with human excretion. In fact sewage sludge contains a great many things other than excretion. Street run-off accounts for a significant amount. Even domestic wastes contain effluents from laundries, showers, sinks, garbage disposals, etc., so that only a small fraction of the solids which end up in the sludge are from excretion.
Sewage sludge is in fact an amalgamation of all the wastes of our society.
Because of the similarity in the origin, the constituents, the environmental impact, the available disposal techniques and disposal costs between municipal sewage sludge and industrial hazardous wastes, it would be impossible to write guidelines or regulations for the latter without taking into account the policy toward the former. This is true even when EPA guidelines are followed. If so, we will be brought into court for failure to perform our duty. Clearly there is a confrontation ahead, which can only be avoided by not getting regulatory authority or by changing EPA sewage sludge policy. William Sanjour's home page Free counters provided by Honesty Communications .