Firm drops sludge plan following local outcry You can contact us at Press Herald Online . To subscribe to the Portland Press Herald. To advertise on this site. In those areas where we're welcome, we'd like to focus our resources. The sludge will be trucked to other licensed sites in southern Maine, where Gratton said the company will prove it can work well with a community and show that recycling biosolids is safe.
Sewage sludge is pretty much what it sounds like.
Waste-water treatment plants separate liquid from solid waste, and process both. Companies like Bio Gro then use the treated solid waste as fertilizer. The only other legal ways to dispose of the solid waste are by incinerating it or putting it in landfills. Using sludge as fertilizer can be a a tough sell, and residents of the Parsonsfield area vigorously opposed the plan. Gratton said that although many farms use sludge as fertilizer, many people reflexively oppose its use.