Re: “Burning sludge likely, official says,” Nov. 1.
As far as I’m aware, none of Victoria’s sewage comes from outer space, so everything in it is already in our existing environment. All we are discussing is how we redistribute it.
If land disposal is not available (thus keeping it as a solid or liquid), it is difficult to understand how incineration (essentially gasifying it) would make the world safer. True, normal incinerator heat would break down most pharmaceuticals (as would normal soil bacteria action) but nothing less than the heat at the core of the sun would alter the heavy metals.
In fact, the heat would tend to gasify the mercury and send heavier particulate matter up the stack, spreading it widely before it settled back to Earth. Is this really what we want?
Jim Knock
Victoria
