> The calf was appropriately disposed of in a local
> landfill and did not enter the human or animal food chain.
well, back at the ranch with larry, curly and mo heading up the USDA et al,
what would you expect, nothing less than shoot, shovel and shut the hell up.
no mad cow in USA, feed ban working, no civil war in Iraq either.
but what has past history shown us, evidently it has shown the USDA et al
nothing ;
Disposal of meat and bone meal (MBM) derived from specified risk material
(SRM) and over thirty month scheme carcasses by landfill
The Committee was asked to consider a quantitative risk assessment of the
disposal of meat and bone meal derived from specified risk material and over
thirty month scheme carcasses by landfill, prepared in response to a request
from the Committee at its June 1999 meeting.
The Committee was asked whether, in the light of the results of the risk
assessment, it held to its earlier published (June 1999) view that landfill
was an acceptable outlet for MBM of any origin, although it retained a
preference for incineration. The Committee reiterated that it had a strong
preference for incineration as the favoured route for the disposal of MBM
and were uneasy about the use of landfill for the disposal of this material.
If there were cases where incineration was not practical the Committee felt
it would be preferable for any material going to landfill to be
pressure-cooked first or possibly stored above ground prior to incineration.
http://www.seac.gov.uk/summaries/summ_0700.htm
Disposal of BSE suspect carcases
It is the Department's policy to dispose of BSE suspects by incineration
wherever feasible. No BSE suspect carcases have been landfilled since 1991.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/bse/publichealth/notification.html#disp
OPINION ON
THE USE OF BURIAL FOR DEALING WITH ANIMAL
CARCASSES AND OTHER ANIMAL MATERIALS THAT
MIGHT CONTAIN BSE/TSE
ADOPTED BY THE
SCIENTIFIC STEERING COMMITTEE
MEETING OF 16-17 JANUARY 2003
The details of the SSC's evaluation are provided in the attached report. The
SSC
concludes as follows:
(1) The term "burial" includes a diversity of disposal conditions. Although
burial is
widely used for disposal of waste the degradation process essential for
BSE/TSE
infectivity reduction is very difficult to control. The extent to which such
an
infectivity reduction can occur as a consequence of burial is poorly
characterised.
It would appear to be a slow process in various circumstances.
(2) A number of concerns have been identified including potential for
groundwater
contamination, dispersal/transmission by birds/animals/insects, accidental
uncovering by man.
(3) In the absence of any new data the SSC confirms its previous opinion
that animal
material which could possibly be contaminated with BSE/TSEs, burial poses a
risk except under highly controlled conditions (e.g., controlled landfill).
SNIP...
4. CONCLUSION
In the absence of new evidence the opinion of the SSC "Opinion on Fallen
Stock"
(SSC 25th June 1999) must be endorsed strongly that land burial of all
animals and
material derived from them for which there is a possibility that they could
incorporate BSE/TSEs poses a significant risk. Only in exceptional
circumstances
where there could be a considerable delay in implementing a safe means of
disposal
should burial of such materials be considered. Guidelines should be made
available
to aid on burial site selection.
4 PAGES;
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out309_en.pdf
During the 2001 outbreak of FMD in the UK, the
Department of Health prepared a rapid qualitative
assessment of the potential risks to human health
associated with various methods of carcass disposal
(UK Department of Health, 2001c). The most
relevant hazards to human health resulting from
burial were identified as bacteria pathogenic to
humans, water-borne protozoa, and BSE. The main
potential route identified was contaminated water
supplies, and the report generally concluded that an
engineered licensed landfill would always be
preferable to unlined burial. In general terms, the
findings of the qualitative assessment relative to
biological agents are summarized in Table 13.
TABLE 13. Potential health hazards and associated pathways of exposure
resulting from landfill or burial of
animal carcasses (adapted from UK Department of Health, 2001c).
PLEASE SEE TABLE AT;
http://www.k-state.edu/projects/fss/research/books/carcassdispfiles/PDF%20Fi
les/CH%201%20-%20Burial.pdf
PART 2
Rendering and fixed-facility incineration were
preferred, but the necessary resources were not
immediately available and UK officials soon learned
that the capacity would only cover a portion of the
disposal needs. Disposal in commercial landfills was
seen as the next best environmental solution, but
legal, commercial, and local community problems
limited landfill use. With these limitations in mind,
pyre burning was the actual initial method used but
was subsequently discontinued following increasing
public, scientific, and political concerns. Mass burial
and on-farm burial were last on the preferred
method list due to the complicating matter of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the risk posed
to groundwater (Hickman & Hughes, 2002).
http://www.k-state.edu/projects/fss/research/books/carcassdispfiles/PDF%20Fi
les/Introduction%20to%20Part%202%20-%20Cross-Cutting%20&%20Policy%20Issues.p
df
Carcase disposal:
A Major Problem of the
2001 FMD Outbreak
Gordon Hickman and Neil Hughes, Disposal Cell,
FMD Joint Co-ordination Centre, Page Street
snip...
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/svj/fmd/pages27-40.pdf
3. Prof. A. Robertson gave a brief account of BSE. The US approach
was to accord it a _very low profile indeed_. Dr. A Thiermann showed
the picture in the ''Independent'' with cattle being incinerated and thought
this was a fanatical incident to be _avoided_ in the US _at all costs_...
snip...
http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11b/tab01.pdf
PAUL BROWN SCRAPIE SOIL TEST
http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/sc/seac07/tab03.pdf
Some unofficial information from a source on the inside looking out -
Confidential!!!!
As early as 1992-3 there had been long studies conducted on small
pastures containing scrapie infected sheep at the sheep research station
associated with the Neuropathogenesis Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Whether these are documented...I don't know. But personal recounts both
heard and recorded in a daily journal indicate that leaving the pastures
free and replacing the topsoil completely at least 2 feet of thickness
each year for SEVEN years....and then when very clean (proven scrapie
free) sheep were placed on these small pastures.... the new sheep also
broke out with scrapie and passed it to offspring. I am not sure that TSE
contaminated ground could ever be free of the agent!!
A very frightening revelation!!!
----------
You can take that with however many grains of salt you wish, and
we can debate these issues all day long, but the bottom line,
this is not rocket-science, all one has to do is some
experiments and case studies. But for the life of me,
I don't know what they are waiting on?
Kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
Bacliff, Texas USA
More here:
http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s018.pdf
INCINERATION TEMPS
Requirements include:
a. after burning to the range of 800 to 1000*C to eliminate smell;
well heck, this is just typical public relations fear factor control.
do you actually think they would spend the extra costs for fuel,
for such extreme heat, just to eliminate smell, when they spread
manure all over your veg's. i think not. what they really meant were
any _TSE agents_.
b. Gas scrubbing to eliminate smoke -- though steam may be omitted;
c. Stacks to be fitted with grit arreaters;
snip...
1.2 Visual Imact
It is considered that the requirement for any carcase incinerator
disign would be to ensure that the operations relating to the reception,
storage and decepitation of diseased carcasses must not be publicly
visible and that any part of a carcase could not be removed or
interfered with by animals or birds.
full text;
http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/04/03006001.pdf
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out311_en.pdf
TSS