US farmers urged to use chalky waste as fertiliser
Sunday, 27 December 2009
WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Commodity Online) : US Environmental Protection Agency urged federal government to encourage farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilise soil even as it considers regulating coal wastes.
The material produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid rain causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum.
It also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.
EPA says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts and pose no threat to crops, surface water or humans.
But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health, for the government to encourage farmers to use it on their land.
The material produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid rain causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum.
It also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.
EPA says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts and pose no threat to crops, surface water or humans.
But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health, for the government to encourage farmers to use it on their land.