Current and Future Outlook of Dredged and Sewage Sludge Materials in Agriculture and Environment (3 pp)

-  In the late 1960’s there was an increasing realization in the U.S.A. and other parts of the world, especially in Europe of the potential problems associated with the disposal of spoil and sewage sludge materials. While insufficient information was available to determine potential adverse effects of disposal on land, many people including those in the scientific community had articulated their objections on the use of these materials in agriculture because data do not provide adequate environmental protection information. In many cases, site-specific geochemical and biological factors are typically excluded from the decision process (Wenning and Woltering 2001). Because of continued studies and far-reaching research during the last 40 years on the environmental effects of dredged and sludge materials, the scientific community and regulatory agencies in the U.S.A. are now in a much better position to appraise the environmental and possible agricultural impacts connected with the disposal of dredged and sludge materials by diverse disposal methods.