SLUDGE VICTIMS

uproariously through much of his conversation with the Culpeper News..

"Grocery stores are full of bottled water," he said. What about showers? 'They've been taking showers all along.' But they shouldn't have been, according to the Health Department.

To that, Lenn laughed and said, "'Chicken and hamburger are full of E. coli . . . . It was none of my fault . . . . The more we bend over backwards to help those who need to live in modest-priced housing, the more we get screwed."

Lenn called back to say, "Ask all the tenants why in the world didn't they move out . . . . Not one of them has a security deposit . . . . if they didn't have the money to move, they would have had it by the second month of not paying rent." (Shrader's response to this was that he's had the expense of hauling water and eating out.)

Lenn called back again to say, 'We farmed all our life for a living" and I am very partial to doing everything I can to help farmers. The reason I did nothing to the well prior to going south was I thought it would clear itself up after a liner was put in, and the (bacteria) count went down from 1600 to 2.

"I thought if I gave up the well it might hurt farmers' use of the sludge. I still want to do anything I can not to destroy farmers' ability to use the sludge, because it's such a help. If a few tenants have to wash behind their ears with a dishrag for a few days, I'm going to be with the farmers."

Asked whether BioGro is paying for the new well, Lenn declined to answer.

Shrader and other residents have been discussing with Ted Korth, a Charlottesville lawyer, various possible courses of action.

Shrader said he has not yet heard back from Laurie Reynolds of the EPA, who told him she would look into this matter on March 20. Nor has he heard from Bill Chase (D-Stevensburg) or any of the other Culpeper supervisors, though Chase told him at last week' s board meeting that he was sorry for not returning his calls and would eventually be in touch with him.

Shrader has been in touch with residents of Grand Bay, Ala., who have formed a group called Citizens Against Pollution Inc. to oppose the dumping of sludge there by BioGro. Gary Schaefer, a member of the group, describes illnesses to humans and dead dogs-.

"Pamela Gratton got up at a meeting," he said, 'and said she spent all day in the field with the trucks and never smelled anything. Three people jumped up and just went berserk.'

Schaefer said that he has mailed a video of violations to the EPA. He describes the EPA as extremely powerful. '[Federal Department of Transportation) regulations say [sludge is] hazardous material to transport,but EPA overrules DOT."

The Handshys

Scott and Lori Handshy, who live in Stevensburg, next to a property where sludge has been applied , had the tests done at Joiner labs on Shrader's water as well as on their own and that of a neighbor, Pat Lake.
They are also having tests done out of state on Shrader's water for heavy metals and viruses. Scott Handshy said that several groups are helping to pay for the tests, including one called the National Sludge Alliance and another called People Against Toxic Sludge Inc.

The Joiner tests on the Haindshys' well tested positive for total coliform bacteria but negative for E. coli. A stream on the site tested MPN 300/100 ml for E. coli. Desiree Lopasic of the Health Department came out, at the Handshys' request, and tested their water. She found MPN <2 for fecal coliform in the Handshys' water and also in that of Pat Lake.

Lake said Joiner's test had found bacteria in her well, which she found hard to believe since she has had good water for many years. She said that Lopasic's test and another done at Environmental Systems Services, a private company in Culpeper, found no fecal coliform.