The Culture of Flushing - Book

I recently got a copy of Jamie Benidickson's new book, "The Culture of Flushing", and I rather enjoy it. My only criticism is that the book concludes with a request for more public attention. I certainly hope that the author will go on a book tour in order to help with this attention. While demonstrations may be useful, they require a groundswell of support for success.

Arizona Developments w/o Water

According to the Arizona Gov. Napolitano,
"What most people in Arizona don't realize is that we have huge swaths in our communities that are forbidden by law from looking at water when they make land use decisions," Napolitano told mayors meeting here Tuesday, in a preview of her State of the State speech.

as the article notes, this implicates recently passed proposition 207 which states

12-1134. Diminution in value; just compensation
A. If the existing rights to use, divide, sell or possess private real property are reduced by the enactment or applicability of any land use law enacted after the date the property is transferred to the owner and such action reduces the fair market value of the property the owner is entitled to just compensation from this state or the political subdivision of this state that enacted the land use law.
B. This section does not apply to land use laws that:
1. limit or prohibit a use or division of real property for the protection of the public's health and safety, including rules and regulations relating to fire and building codes, health and sanitation, transportation or traffic control, solid or hazardous waste, and pollution control;
...
6. do not directly regulate an owner's land; or
7. were enacted before the effective date of this section.

I would expect any drafter would have a goal of making this regulation formulated as a health and safety issue. A suitable findings statement may be enough, given the impact of scare water resources in the state.

Where are all my antibacterials?

Ever since hearing of research from Virginia Tech, I have been suspect of antimicrobials in use. In addition to creating persistent toxic chemicals, they share many of the same problems of pesticides and antibiotics: the target of the chemical can mutate.

A recent article points to recent research on the fate of antimicrobials (such as triclosan in soap).

50 percent of triclosan and 76 percent of triclocarban remain unchanged by aerobic and anaerobic digestion in a typical wastewater facility, according to a pair of recent reports. This large intact fraction isn't going out with the treated water—the old estimates are correct in that respect. Rather, it is trapped in the sludge at the bottom of the treatment tanks. Most of that sludge gets spread on the ground to fertilize pasture, forests and human food crops.

Heres the rub:

But in terms of sludge composition, the EPA only set limits for metals and certain pathogenic bacteria. There is no oversight of organic chemicals and no categorical prohibition of the use of biosolids on food crops. Current rules do govern the types of food that can be grown with biosolids fertilizer, the amount of time between application and harvest, and other practical details. But the EPA's official stance is that the practice of growing food in dewatered municipal sludge is acceptable.

I don't mean to be down on using treated sludge, but I think our romance with endocrine disrupting chemicals in our daily lives may need to be taken down a notch.