Sludge- DON*T USE IT!

[K N and P J Harris]

Sludge - sea dump it.
Sorry to disagree but however toxic the sludge is, it makes more sense 
to dump it at sea than to land spread it. It is a simple matter of 
arithmetic - work out how much water the planet has in its oceans and 
then work out how much fertile soil there is by volume. There is 
something like a million times more water. Because of the cuddly animal 
syndrome (baby seals and all that) and the fact that people have a vague 
notion of "clean water" they are readily persuaded that polluting the 
soil (there is no concept of "clean soil") is a better option.
The best option, but costly, is not to have the toxic sludge in the 
first place. The technology would drive up the price of goods and the 
necessary legislation would put some dirty producers out of business but 
in the end the consumer would save the money they pour into cuddly 
animal charities and the cuddly animals could be left to look after 
themselves.No more need for photo-opportunities with BB !

Peter Harris,
Department of Soil Science,
University of Reading, UK.