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Toxic Information Center

On this web page you will find:

• Oregon Toxics Alliance’s suggestions for changes to the proposed Fertilizer Rules 
• Contact information for the Oregon Department of Agriculture & Governor's Office

Oregon Toxics Alliance’s Suggestions for Changes to the Proposed Fertilizer Rules

OTA recommends  five specific improvements to the proposed fertilizer rules.  They are outlined below. 

You may use these suggestions to help you craft your own comments to the Department of Agriculture.  Remember, all comments are due by September 26. 

Please tell the Department of Agriculture that you want our State to:

1. Protect Oregon’s lands and soils, farmers and families by calling for a ban on the use of all hazardous waste containing toxic constituents in the manufacture of fertilizer or for use as a soil amendment.   At a minimum, such a ban would prohibit waste from steel industry, hazardous and municipal waste incinerators, municipal waste treatment facilities, paper and pulp mill by-products, and cement kilns in fertilizer production.

Discussion: Why ban hazardous waste in fertilizer? 

Because . . . As proposed, the Oregon law would permit a number of poisonous heavy metals in fertilizers and soil amendments but only test for five (5) of them: arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, and nickel.  The proposed regulation on the levels of the five toxic metals are weak, and there is virtually no consideration of the long-term implications of ever-increasing levels of heavy metals in our food, soil, and aquatic habitats.  To understand how weak the Oregon proposed law is, we can compare it to the fertilizer laws in California and Washington; Washington set limits for nine heavy metals, while Oregon will only limit five.   California is requiring fertilizer companies to continually ratchet down the amount of toxins in fertilizers each year until the year 2004 at which time fertilizers must test at levels that are fairly low.  Compare California’s levels of heavy metals with that proposed by Oregon (calculated in parts per million/per percent of phosphate or micronutrient):

While Oregon Toxics Alliance does not advocate for any heavy metals in fertilizers, our example illustrates just how weak is the proposed Oregon law.  If we allow high levels of heavy metals in the fertilizers sold in Oregon, our state faces the threat of becoming the dumping ground for the adulterated fertilizers prohibited in Washington or California. 

Oregon should adopt standards based on the cleanest fertilizer the industry can produce.  Why should Oregonians have to accept fertilizer products that can’t be sold in other states?

Discussion: Why test raw materials and sewage sludge used in fertilizer for toxicity? 

Because . . . Often raw materials and sewage sludge can contain high levels of heavy metals, dioxins and other toxic substances.  According to a report by the EPA Inspector General, despite the 5.6 million tons spread on our farms and home gardens every year, “the government has done too little research to ensure that humans are safe from the viruses, bacteria and toxins in the sludge used as fertilizer.” (Associated Press story in the Register-Guard 7/3/02).  We should not be spreading these substances without first testing it to determine that it complies with a level of safety that protects human health and the environment.

Discussion: Why demand that our government and regulatory agencies use precaution?

Because . . . We should not allow our government to gamble with human life and biodiversity in our environment.  When regulatory agencies like the Department of Agriculture tell us fertilizers are “safe,” they have based their assumption on a risk assessment model.  Risk assessment uses mathematical models to determine how many human deaths due to toxic exposures will occur in every 1000 people.  Risk assessment is a tactic that industries use to justify dodging their responsibility to properly dispose of their toxic waste.  Would you want one of your family members to be that “one in a thousand” person who gets lung cancer from exposure to cadmium in fertilizer?  Of course not!  And that is why we must advocate for a precautionary model, not a risk model, when determining the safety of products that affect health and environment.

It is unacceptable that the Oregon Department of Agriculture wants to permit toxics in fertilizers when it is known that: 
• There is no “safe” level of lead for humans. 
• Dioxin is highly persistent and accumulates in our bodies.
• Mercury has already contaminated much of the fish we consume to the point that many states now have fish consumption advisories for pregnant women and children.

Oregonians should demand that no hazardous waste be used to make fertilizer.

4. Ensure that consumers have accurate information about the presence and quantity of all ingredients in fertilizers by listing this information on the product label (not only on a website).

Discussion: Why should fertilizer manufacturers provide accurate information right on the bag about the ingredients in the fertilizers that consumers use?

Because . . . Currently, fertilizer manufacturers don’t have to declare if their product contains heavy metals or other non-nutrient substances.  The Department of Agriculture is proposing that manufacturers should post the ingredients of their product on one of three websites, but not have to list it on the product label!  The ODA’s recommendation sets up a system where consumers can only learn what is in their fertilizers if they have access to the internet.  Such a recommendation discriminates against those without technological skills and equipment.  Furthermore, if this law goes into effect, gardeners and homeowners would not be able to decide which product to buy when they are at the store.  Instead, they will have to study the available brands at the store, go home, start their computer and find the appropriate website, look at the ingredients, determine if the fertilizer is made from hazardous waste and its levels of contaminants, compare products and make their choice, and then go back to the store to purchase a fertilizer. 

  5.  Sunset Oregon Fertilizer Law Section 23 which prohibits public knowledge about sources of hazardous waste.

Discussion: Why should the public know about where the ingredients in the fertilizers are derived?

Because . . . The public has a right to know exactly which wastes are used in fertilizers so that they know whais in the bag of fertilizer they purchase.  Public ignorance about the sources of hazardous waste in fertilizer takes away our right to make personal decisions about safeguarding our health and soils.   Knowing about the sources of hzazrdous waste is important because there are differenct concerns associated with specific kinds of waste.  Steel-mill waste is known to contain extremely high levels of lead and dioxins.  Mining waste can contain the highest levels of arsenic. 
 

Contact:  Janet Fults, Pesticides Division, Fertilizer Rules
503-986-4635

Phil Ward, Director, Department of Agriculture
635 Capitol Street
Salem, OR  97301-2532
503-869-4552
pward@oda.state.or.us

Office of the Governor
State Capitol Building
900 Court Street NE
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
Governor's Citizen Message Line - (503) 378-4582
Fax - (503) 378-4863.