Archive - Wednesday, 23 October 2002


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New regulations on sludge

NEW regulations regarding the treatment of sewage sludge have been announced so that it can be spread on agricultural land.

The Government considers the controlled application of sewage sludge to farm land to be the best practicable environmental option in most circumstances, says DEFRA. The addition of organic matter improves soil structure, workability and water holding capacity as well as bringing savings in fertiliser costs.

The draft regulations are to safeguard human and animal health and the environment. The proposed revisions to the regulations will:

strengthen the requirements for sludge treatment processes to ensure that potential pathogens, such as E.coli O157 and salmonella, are not transmitted into the food chain;

introduce more stringent post-application controls on harvesting and grazing;

ban the use of untreated sludge on agricultural land on which food crops are grown, which was banned voluntarily from the end of 1999;

strengthen record keeping and control procedures to improve quality control and effective enforcement of the regulations.

Updated: 09:51 Wednesday, October 23, 2002