New state law turns back 5% of fertilizers

More than 100 fertilizer products fell short of meeting new standards set out by Washington state's landmark law limiting toxic heavy metals in fertilizer.

Some of those products were pulled from shelves. Others were denied licenses that would have allowed their sale in the future. Some never even made it to stores, with manufacturers pulling back their license applications before the products were tested. And some were reformulated, with their makers removing the dangerous ingredients or changing instructions to consumers.

The affected products represent about 5 percent of the fertilizers registered for sale in this state.

State officials said this week that Washington's 1998 law, the first and only of its kind in the nation, made a real difference in the past year, cleaning up the previously unreported toxics in some fertilizers sold to farmers and gardeners.

At least 15 products that were made from hazardous wastes were changed to meet the new standards, resulting in less toxic metal going into soil, said Greg Sorlie, manager of hazardous waste and toxic reduction for the state Department of Ecology.

"This is working pretty well. We have a much better idea of what's out there. This is good news," Sorlie said.

Most of those changed were lesser-known brands, but the cleanup affected major agricultural blends and hardware-store products as well.

The law was passed to regulate nine heavy metals in fertilizer to protect health, the environment and the trust in Washington farm products.

"The system now is a lot better than it was three or four years ago to increase confidence on whatever you're putting on your farms or gardens," said state Department of Agriculture Director Jim Jesernig.

Jesernig said he is confident that more than 96 percent of the fertilizer being sold in the state meets the new standards, much of it easily. Many of the rejected products were improved and passed on a second try.

But some environmental groups are not satisfied with the progress.

The Washington Public Interest Research Group is gathering signatures to ban steel-mill waste in fertilizer. Some groups are talking about a statewide initiative in 2001.

"The law has failed miserably because it hasn't stopped industries from dumping their toxic wastes into fertilizer products," said Laurie Valeriano, policy director of the Washington Toxics Coalition. "We still see pulp mill, cement kiln, steel mill, tire ash, mining waste and magnesium smelter wastes being recycled into fertilizer."

The coalition wanted toxic chemicals listed on fertilizer labels, not only on the Internet, and wanted a limit on the toxic metals in fertilizer at the level no higher than the natural background levels in soil.

A Seattle Times analysis shows about one-third of fertilizers meet the "cleaner than dirt" standard.

Arsenic and cadmium may cause cancer years after a small exposure, and lead hurts IQ, among other ills. The other regulated metals are cobalt, nickel, mercury, molybdenum, selenium and zinc.

The state law allows adding those heavy metals to the soil at a level that would double the background level if applied at maximum rates for 45 years.

Two years ago, a Times investigation revealed that hazardous industrial wastes were being sold as fertilizer.

Toxic metals from waste and contamination from natural sources ranged from trace amounts to 5 percent of the product and were rarely disclosed to buyers.

No state was testing, limiting or disclosing the toxic metals in fertilizer. Gov. Gary Locke responded by promising to make Washington a national leader in the field.

Now the state Department of Agriculture has registered more than 2,300 fertilizers under the new standards and posted the manufacturer analysis, including heavy metals, on a Web site, www.wa.gov/agr/pmd/fertilizers#database.

"That is I think one of the most important things," Jesernig said. "We can say people do know what's out there and can make a decision based on that."

In all, 264 companies have applied to register nearly 3,000 fertilizers in Washington.

Miles Kuntz, an Ecology Department specialist on waste-derived fertilizers, is still working on two controversial products.

Ironite, from Scottsdale, Ariz., a mine material widely used at homes and golf courses, passed the standard after cutting its recommended rate by about 90 percent. But Ironite is still under state review for health effects of lead and arsenic. The company says the product is safe because the toxic chemicals are bound tight with other insoluble chemicals.

Ammonium hydroxide from Siemens Power, Richland, Benton County. The company was hit with a stop-sale order last month for selling an unregistered fertilizer made from a byproduct of refining uranium into nuclear fuel.

Siemens officials say it is 650 times less radioactive than typical phosphate fertilizer, contains less uranium than dirt, and is a clean, valuable source of nitrogen for plants. Kuntz said the Siemens application looks good enough so far to pass review, but the Health Department is still working on it.

Northwest Alloys, a subsidiary of Alcoa in Chewelah, Stevens County, is also recycling waste materials legally, Kuntz said, though its product has been challenged. Kuntz said complaints from a farmer and a former fertilizer spreader for Northwest Alloys that the material was killing fields have been viewed so far as growing out of errors in applying the product.

Consumers don't have to worry about the guaranteed nutrients in fertilizer. Nutrients have always been listed on the product label and spot-tested by the state.

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Naming names

State officials say more than 100 products were affected by the new law on toxic metals in fertilizer.

At least 46 were denied licenses in an initial screening for metals by the Department of Agriculture. Among them:

Black Gold Phosphate, a "certified organic" fertilizer made from mine waste in Idaho, for cadmium. It was sold directly and through blends by companies such as Garden Grow of Oregon, which switched sources of phosphate for a popular Whitney Farms product.

Hyponex Miracle Earth from The Scotts Co., for arsenic, cobalt and selenium.

Nine Scotts-Sierra Horticultural products, for cobalt, which is a minor plant food if properly labeled and controlled, but toxic if not.

Liquinox Iron & Zinc from Liquinox Co. of Orange, Calif., for mercury.

Rock Phosphate 0-3-0 from Soil Conditioners Inc., Zillah, Yakima County, for cadmium.

Perk Stress Relief 4-0-10 from Lebanon Chemical, Lebanon, Pa., for molybdenum.

Seven products from Northwest Seed & Pet, Spokane, because metals analysis was not submitted.

At least 25 products changed their labels, mostly to reduce the recommended application rate. Among them:

Ironite Products, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Cenex/Land O'Lakes, St. Paul, Minn.

Monterey Chemical, Fresno, Calif.

Woodburn Fertilizer, Woodburn, Ore.

Additionally, after a special state review of products made from hazardous wastes, six companies changed 15 products. Most of them found cleaner sources of zinc:

Nortrace, Greeley, Colo.

Wilbur-Ellis, Spokane.

Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Bonham, Texas.

Platte Chemical, Greeley, Colo.

Plaaskem International, Toronto, Canada.

Lidochem, Hazlet, N.J.

So far, 64 product applications were not renewed or were voluntarily withdrawn, at least 23 of them because of the new standards, state officials said, including cement kiln dust from Holnam Inc., of Seattle.

In addition, 63 products have been hit with stop-sale orders, mostly for failing to register with the state, including Schultz, Scotts, Stoller and Stern's Miracle-Gro fertilizers. Almost half of the stop-sale orders have been released.

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Tomorrow in The Times

In the Home/Real Estate section, we compare licensed fertilizers in Washington state with two other benchmarks for heavy metals: the "cleaner-than-dirt" standard favored by some environmental groups, and the toxics-cleanup standard for contaminated soil.