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BY KATHLEEN QUILLIGAN
Kathleen.Quilligan@nwitimes.com
219.662.5331 | Friday, April 18, 2008 | (10 comment(s))

CROWN POINT | A semitrailer load of human feces spilled on to Indiana 55 at Greenwood Avenue in Crown Point about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, closing a stretch of the road for most of the day.

The truck was hauling the treated human waste from the Portage Reclamation Facility, 5500 Old Porter Road, to a farm in Lowell when the tailgate opened, leaving a trail of sludge spanning 2,500 feet, Crown Point Fire Department officials said.

The spill closed northbound and southbound Indiana 55 at Franciscan Drive and Burrell Drive for cleanup. A front-loader was used to scoop up most of the spill before the Crown Point Fire Department hosed off the rest, said Mark Baumgardner Sr., the department's division chief of operations.

The truck driver told Crown Point Police he did not have paperwork for the load and was issued a citation by the Indiana Department of Transportation, police said.

The Crown Point Fire Department, Lake County Hazmat and the Indiana State Police responded to the spill, and the road was reopened just before 4 p.m.

Don Slawnikowski, the Portage facility's superintendent, said company has a biosolids permit to apply the sludge to farmland to be used as fertilizer.

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stinkstankstunk wrote on Apr 21, 2008 10:42 AM:

" The department's division chief of operations is the #2 man on the fire department if I'm not mistaken. "

Concerned for idiots wrote on Apr 18, 2008 11:22 PM:

" You tell them dr poop, these people need to get a little more educated,on many things that the government allows. Our own drinking water is poison to the human body. "

For, Is it me wrote on Apr 18, 2008 11:17 PM:

" Do you have any clue of what you are talking about? I doubt it. If you did, you wouldn't be questioning the fact of what is legal and what is not. Maybe you need to contact the STATE,IDEM or maybe even OSHA, and ask them why using human waste as fertilizer is legal.While your on you roll, you need to contact the airlines and ask where the back draft of the diesel fuel ends up. "On the ground" with your fruits and veggies. Is this legal or not.Did you also know that your deodorant causes cancer and the tooth paste you use with fluoride,has the same ingredients as anti-freeze. So I ask, who are you to complain? MR or MRS I know nothing. Just someone to sit and give an opinion that you know nothing about. "

men in the white wrote on Apr 18, 2008 8:44 PM:

" WOW! that id is disgusting "

cp voter wrote on Apr 18, 2008 6:57 PM:

" Did they scoop up the incumbent county politicians swimming in it? "

Is it me.......... wrote on Apr 18, 2008 2:14 PM:

" Or is someone trying to tell us something. First, a spill of human waste, then an earthquake, then a second one hit this morning, but I don't think we felt that one up here. At least i didn't feel the second one at 4.2! And by the way, I thought that it was illegal to use human waste for fertilizer. Don Slawnikowski in the article said they use it...but it's "OKAY" since they have a permit. NOT!! Thanks, but please tell me it's not being used for my local fruits and vegetables!! "

dr poop wrote on Apr 18, 2008 1:18 PM:

" Who said it was "treated" human waste? Lots worse stuff has been used as "fertilizer" by AgriBusiness!! Read "Fatal Harvest"! "

Yuk! wrote on Apr 18, 2008 11:52 AM:

" That must of been fun to clean up! "

humpty wrote on Apr 18, 2008 11:37 AM:

" I believe Greenwood isnt correct. It was just north of Magnolia and Greenwood but Franciscan to Burrell needed to be shut down. "

What? wrote on Apr 18, 2008 11:34 AM:

" I certianly hope the treated human waste being hauled was NOT going to be used to fertilize fields used for human food. "

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