Milorganite

"Milorganite" is a portmanteau of the term Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen. It was the winning entry in a 1925 naming contest for a biosolids-based fertilizer held in National Fertilizer Magazine. Its history began with Milwaukee's goal to clean up its rivers and Lake Michigan.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMu6pdfkFEsC&pg=PA170 |pages=170–192 |first1=Daniel |last1=Schneider |title=Histories of the Dustheap: Waste, Material Cultures, Social Justice |editor-first1=Stephanie |editor-last1=Foote |editor-first2=Elizabeth |editor-last2=Mazzolini|publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=2012 |chapter=7, "Purification or Profit: Milwaukee and the Contradiction of Sludge"|isbn=9780262517829 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6xnhZI5KUs0C&pg=PA175 |publisher=The MIT Press |title=Hybrid Nature: Sewage Treatment and the Contradictions of the Industrial Ecosystem (Urban and Industrial Environments) |type=Hardcover |isbn=9780262016445 |date= 2011 |quote=Winner, 2013 George Perkins Marsh Prize, awarded by the American Society for Environmental History |first1=Daniel |last1=Schneider |page=175}} Rather than land filling solids left over from wastewater treatment, the sludge was used in a pioneering effort to make, distribute and sell fertilizer.{{cite press release |url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012Milorganite/06OrganicFertilizer/prweb9563797.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628231519/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012Milorganite/06OrganicFertilizer/prweb9563797.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 28, 2014 |title=Milorganite Reaches 9 Billion Pounds with 85 Years of Recycling |publisher=PRWEB |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |date=2012-06-02 |access-date=2014-03-26 }}

As of May 2019, {{convert|9.9|e9lb|abbr=off|lk=on}} of waste have been diverted away from landfills.{{cite web |url=https://www.milorganite.com/blog/milorganite/milorganite-shortage-2019 |title=There's a Shortage of Milorganite |date=2019-05-02 |access-date=2019-09-20 }} The resulting production is among the largest recycling programs in the world.{{cite book |title=Historical Report Photographs, Written Historical and Descriptive Data |work=Historic American Engineering Record |first1=Raymond H. |last1=Merritt |year=1982 |publisher=National Park Service |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/wi/wi0100/wi0154/data/wi0154data.pdf |access-date=2014-04-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407095944/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/wi/wi0100/wi0154/data/wi0154data.pdf |archive-date=2014-04-07 }}

Milorganite's roots began in 1911, when local socialist politicians were elected on a platform calling for construction of a wastewater treatment plant to protect against water borne pathogens.{{cite journal |first1=Clifford |last1=Mortimer |date=May 1981 |url=https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/54945 |title=The Lake Michigan Pollution Case: A Review and Commentary on the Limnological and Other Issues |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |journal=Publications of the Great Lakes Center for Research |publisher=Center for Great Lakes Studies, University of Wisconsin {{ndash}} Milwaukee |pages=2–3 |access-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-date=March 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330022435/https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/54945 |url-status=live }}. As raising taxes for public health was relatively controversial in the early 1900s,{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} producing an organic fertilizer as a means of partially offsetting its operating cost was proposed. With the help of researchers in the College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, the use of waste solids in the form of activated sludge as a source of fertilizer had been developed in the early 20th century.{{cite web |url=http://www.milorganite.com/en/Header-Links/About-Us/History.aspx |title=History of Milorganite |publisher=Milorganite/Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District |access-date=March 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326164445/http://www.milorganite.com/en/Header-Links/About-Us/History.aspx |archive-date=March 26, 2014 }} Experiments showed that heat-dried activated sludge pellets "compared favorably with standard organic materials such as dried blood, tankage, fish scrap, and cottonseed meal".Eleventh Annual Report of the Sewerage Commission of the City of Milwaukee for 1924, pp. 32–42.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's Jones Island Plant had the largest wastewater treatment capacity of any in the world when constructed in 1925.{{cite book |url=http://www.freese.com/sites/default/files/Century.pdf |page=44 |title=A Century in the Works: 100 Years of Progress in Civil and Environmental Engineering; Freese and Nichols Consulting Engineers 1894–1994 |first1=Simon W., P.E. |last1=Freese |first2=Deborah Lightfoot |last2=Sizemore |access-date=2014-04-02 }} It was the first plant in the United States to succeed in using the activated sludge treatment process to produce fertilizer. The Plant has been designated as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.{{cite web |url=http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/20017WTF.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1976%20Thru%201980&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C76THRU80%5CTXT%5C00000009%5C20017WTF.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=p%7Cf&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1 |title=Environmental Draft Impact Statement: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District; Water Pollution Abatement Program, No. E1S801072DB |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |date=1980-11-01 |page=V-100 |access-date=2014-04-01 }}{{cite press release |author=American Society of Civil Engineers|author-link=American Society of Civil Engineers |date=1974-08-13 |title=Regarding designation of the Jones Island plant as a national engineering landmark}}{{cite book |url=http://www.watercases.org/LIB_2/2C_The_Milwaukee_Case/2C1._Jones_Island_(Milw.)_plant_history.pdf |title=Historic Documentation of the Jones Island West Plant |date=1982-04-01 |publisher=Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District |work=Milwaukee Water Pollution · Abatement Program |author1=Program Management Office, Milwaukee Water Pollution Abatement Program |author2=CH2M HILL, INC. |author3=Donohue & Associates, Inc. |author4=Howard Needles Tammen & Bergendoff |author5=Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer and Associates, Inc. |author6=Poly tech, Inc. |author7=J.C. Zimmerman Engineering Corp. |author8=Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |access-date=2015-08-08 |archive-date=2015-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914235452/http://www.watercases.org/LIB_2/2C_The_Milwaukee_Case/2C1._Jones_Island_(Milw.)_plant_history.pdf |url-status=usurped }}

In 1926, Milorganite made its debut as the first pelletized fertilizer in the United States,{{cite news |url=http://onmilwaukee.com/market/articles/makingmilorganite.html |title=Urban spelunking: Brewing up Milorganite |first1=Bobby |last1=Tanzilo |publisher=RSS Feed/OnMilwaukee.com |date=2017-05-12 |access-date=2022-02-01 |archive-date=2024-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614153739/https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/makingmilorganite |url-status=live }} with sales directed at golf courses, turf farms, and flower growers.{{cite web |title=North American's Most Widely Known, Respected, and Beloved Turfgrass Agronomist |work=The O.J. Noer Research Foundation, Inc., Michigan State U. Libraries, Turfgrass Information Center |url=http://www.lib.msu.edu/tgif }} The brand was popularized during the 1930s and 1940s before inorganic urea became available to homeowners after WWII.{{fact|date=July 2024}}

Oyvind Juul (O.J.) Noer helped establish the turfgrass industry, and "was instrumental in the success of Milorganite". While promoting Milorganite, his influence got him designated as “Mr. Turf” by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. He was an important lecturer and authored proponent of turfgrass and fertilizer, including a series of articles titled The ABC of Turf Culture {{mdash}} later published as one of the earliest comprehensive books on the subject of turf maintenance. Noer achieved this stature from his willingness to share his extensive knowledge of turfgrass. While working for Milorganite, he visited more than 80 percent of U.S. golf courses, to aid greenskeepers diagnose and cure "turf problems based on research-based knowledge".{{cite web |url=https://www.milorganite.com/about-us/history |title=Milorganite's History |date=2016-08-02 |publisher=Milorganite |accessdate=2022-02-01 |archive-date=2022-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201135653/https://www.milorganite.com/about-us/history |url-status=live }} In 1985, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url=http://www.wsga.org/interior.aspx?id=800&ekmensel=c580fa7b_78_0_800_7 |title=Golf House of Wisconsin Museum |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001551/http://www.wsga.org/interior.aspx?id=800&ekmensel=c580fa7b_78_0_800_7 |archivedate=2016-03-04 |work=Wisconsin State Golf Association |accessdate=2010-10-30 }}

Since its inception, over four million metric tons of Milorganite have been sold. As of 2018, the plant produces in the range of {{convert|45000|–|49000|ST|abbr=off|lk=on}} of Milorganite per year, which is roughly 2.4 million bags. The sale of product does not generate sufficient funds to cover the costs of manufacture, but the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District states that the environmental benefits are a legitimate offsetting consideration:{{cite web |url=http://www.milorganite.com/About |title=About us |publisher=Milorganite/Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District |access-date=2014-03-28 |archive-date=2006-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060410085240/http://www.milorganite.com/About |url-status=live }}

In addition to the conflicting financial and environmental goals, it has to cope with fluctuations and vagaries of a changing waste stream. For example, there has been a substantial impact upon both the quality and the quantity of raw material available as a result of Milwaukee losing much of its malting and brewing industry through the departure of once-giant local concerns Schlitz Brewing Company and Pabst Brewing Company. Milorganite has been at the forefront of the sewage sludge recycling industry in the U.S.{{Specify|date=August 2020}} Changes in the economy and the resultant sewage to be treated have had an impact on Milorganite production.

The process is the end point of the regional sewerage system, which includes "three thousand miles of household laterals and another 3,000 miles of sanitary sewers" (5,000 km of laterals and 5,000 km of sewers). Also included is the {{convert|28.5|mi}} "deep tunnel project", which provides {{convert|521|e6usgal|e9l+e6m3+e6impgal|abbr=off|spell=us|lk=on}} of overflow storage system. Two plants, one on Jones Island and the other in Oak Creek, process sewage using bacteria. Methane is recaptured and used to minimize energy costs.{{cite web|url=https://onmilwaukee.com/history/articles/makingmilorganite.html|title=In Milwaukee History: Milorganite is made! Made in Milwaukee: Milorganite|last1=Tanzilo|first1=Bobby|date=2017-05-12|work=Made in Milwaukee|publisher=House of Harley-Davidson|access-date=2017-07-04|archive-date=2017-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512173444/https://onmilwaukee.com/history/articles/makingmilorganite.html|url-status=live}}

Heat-dried biosolids contain slow release organic nitrogen and largely water-insoluble phosphorus bound with iron and aluminum and high organic matter.{{cite journal |first1=Matt |last1=Miller |first2=George A. |last2=O'Connor |title=Longer-term Phytoavailability of Biosolids-Phosphorus |number=101 |journal=Agronomy Journal |volume=101 |pages=889–896 |year=2009|doi=10.2134/agronj2008.0197x |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009AgrJ..101..889M }} or puri.fcla.edu/fcia/etd/UFE0022710

Milorganite can be used without restriction on gardens growing food crops intended for human consumption under United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H2HxCQAAQBAJ&q=Jones+Island+Plant+Wisconsin+NRHP+nomination&pg=PA112 |page=112 |title=21st Century Homestead: Organic Farming |first1=Lamont |last1=Fedigan |access-date=August 8, 2015 |isbn=9781312937536 |year=2015 |publisher=Lulu.com |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614153618/https://books.google.com/books?id=H2HxCQAAQBAJ&q=Jones+Island+Plant+Wisconsin+NRHP+nomination&pg=PA112#v=snippet&q=Jones%20Island%20Plant%20Wisconsin%20NRHP%20nomination&f=false |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.cias.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/soilorgmtr.pdf |title=Soil Organic Matter with Organic Amendments: A resource for urban and rural gardeners, small farmers, turfgrass managers and large-scale producers |first1=Leslie |last1=Cooperband |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems |date=September 16, 2002 |access-date=September 20, 2019 |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114204814/http://www.cias.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/soilorgmtr.pdf |url-status=live }} The product is tested daily for the presence of heavy metals and weekly for waterborne pathogens. It complies with the EPA "Exceptional Quality" criteria, which establishes the strictest concentration limits in the fertilizer industry for heavy metals, allowing Milorganite to be used on food crops.{{cite web|url=http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/water.nsf/NPDES%2BPermits/Sewage%2BS825/$FILE/503-032007.pdf |title=Standards for the Use and Disposal of Sewage Sludge |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |work=Region 10: The Pacific Northwest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611220706/http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/water.nsf/NPDES%2BPermits/Sewage%2BS825/%24FILE/503-032007.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2014 }} Milorganite has been tested for the presence of contaminants such as waste pharmaceuticals and other forms of drug pollution.

According to its material safety data sheet Milorganite is "registered for sale in all 50 states and meets all federal and state requirements."{{cite web |url=http://www.milorganite.com/en/Retailers/Product-Information/MSDS.aspx |title=Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) |publisher=Milorganite |access-date=April 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075609/http://www.milorganite.com/en/Retailers/Product-Information/MSDS.aspx |archive-date=April 7, 2014 }} The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certifies it as biobased because it is derived from 85% renewable materials. It is not, however, certified for use on USDA organic farms.{{cite web |first1=Ellen Z. Director |last1=Harrison |url=http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/milorganite.pdf |title=Fact Sheet 2006: Home Garden Use of Milorganite |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Waste Management Institute |year=2006 |access-date=March 28, 2014 |archive-date=March 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320013719/http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/milorganite.pdf |url-status=live }}

Suggestions that Milorganite deters deer have been substantiated, but the reputed costs{{efn-ua|Studies paid for by the water district at the University of Georgia and Cornell showed it to be effective in deterring deer. However, the projected cost of EPA certification was estimated at between $1 and $2 million, equivalent to half the organization's entire annual $2 to $3 million advertising and public contract budget.}} of having it certified as a repellent are greater than its potential return.{{cite web

|url=http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/for05-001/for05-001.pdf

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530100406/http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/for05-001/for05-001.pdf

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=2009-05-30

|title=Using Milorganite to temporarily repel white-tailed deer from food plots

|first1=Odin L.

|last1=Stephens

|first2=Michael T.

|last2=Mengak

|first3=David

|last3=Osborn

|first4=Karl V.

|last4=Miller

|publisher=University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

|work=Wildlife Management Series

|number=2

|date=March 2005

|access-date=April 1, 2014

}}{{cite news |url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/37804899.html |first1=Don |last1=Behm |title=EPA derails plans to market Milorganite as deer repellent |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel |date=January 18, 2009 |access-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-date=March 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330171842/http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/37804899.html |url-status=live }}{{cite newsletter |url=http://www.biosolids.org/news_weekly.asp?id=2131 |publisher=National Biosolids Partnership |title=January 2009 |magazine=Weekly Updates |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=March 28, 2014 |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614153625/https://www.wef.org/topics/practice-areas/biosolids-resource-recovery/after-the-flush/news_weekly.asp |url-status=live }} The Environmental Protection Agency denied the application to permit its use as a deer repellent because of a lack of supporting studies showing its environmental impact.

"Milorganite Weed and Feed", a combination of Milorganite with 2,4-D, in a partnership with Parker Fertilizer, was considered in 1971. Seeking to associate itself with the "ecology kick", Milorganite's marketing staff considered the implications of "Milorganite-cide blends". Critics said that the invention of such a product was a repudiation of the sewage district's history. The concept was eventually rejected, and was never marketed to the public. Claims that Milorganite itself was a "natural, organic and/or safe" product were identified as a concern in 1992, when the Federal Trade Commission began an investigation saying the claim was deceptive. By 2000, the United States Department of Agriculture banned the application of all biosolids to any crops bearing the label "organic".

The EPA has shown that biosolids can contain measurable levels of synthetic organic compounds, radionuclides, and heavy metals.{{cite web |url=http://www.biosolids.com.au/what-are-biosolids.php |title=What are biosolids? |publisher=Australian Water Association |access-date=24 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423124151/http://www.biosolids.com.au/what-are-biosolids.php |archive-date=23 April 2015 }}{{Cite web|title = Biosolids: Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey Report – Overview|url=http://water.epa.gov/scitech/wastetech/biosolids/tnsss-overview.cfm|website = water.epa.gov|date = 23 April 2014|access-date = 2015-05-18|archive-date = 2015-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216032645/http://water.epa.gov/scitech/wastetech/biosolids/tnsss-overview.cfm|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/docs/tenorm/832-r-03-002b.pdf|title = ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Recommendations on Management of Radioactive Materials in Sewage Sludge and Ash at Publicly Owned Treatment Works|date = April 2004|access-date = 18 May 2015|website = United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)|publisher = Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards|archive-date = 18 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118104410/http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/docs/tenorm/832-r-03-002b.pdf|url-status = live}} USEPA has set numeric limits for arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc.{{cite web |url=https://www.wef.org/globalassets/assets-wef/3---resources/topics/a-n/biosolids/technical-resources/wef-land-app-fact-sheet---rev0510.pdf |title=Land Application and Composting of Biosolids |publisher=Water Environment Federation |access-date=January 26, 2018 |archive-date=January 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119112504/https://www.wef.org/globalassets/assets-wef/3---resources/topics/a-n/biosolids/technical-resources/wef-land-app-fact-sheet---rev0510.pdf |url-status=live }}

The presence of heavy metals is a source of concern. The facility reports that they have been substantially reduced over the years.{{cite news |url=http://home.eng.iastate.edu/~jea/w3-class/456/article/milorganite.html |title='Flush With Suspicion' (Re: Milwaukee's WWTP Milorganite Sludge Product) |first1=Will |last1=Fantle |work=Milwaukee Magazine |volume=21 |number=11 |pages=48–55 |date=November 1996 |access-date=2018-01-25 |archive-date=2017-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311012945/http://home.eng.iastate.edu/~jea/w3-class/456/article/milorganite.html |url-status=live }} Milorganite contains metals at levels found safe by EPA when Milorganite is used as directed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.milorganite.com/using-milorganite/safety|title=Milorganite Safety on Human Health and the Environment|website=www.milorganite.com|date=29 July 2016|access-date=2019-08-29|archive-date=2022-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124032031/https://www.milorganite.com/using-milorganite/safety|url-status=live}}

The EPA has not regulated levels of environmentally toxic manmade dioxins. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, a type of "persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic" (PBT) contaminant, were detected in biosolids in 2001.{{cite journal |title=Flame retardants: Persistent pollutants in land-applied sludges |date=July 12, 2001|journal=Nature |volume=412 |issue=6843 |pages=140–14 |doi=10.1038/35084130|pmid=11449259 |last1=Hale |first1=Robert C. |last2=La Guardia |first2=Mark J. |last3=Harvey |first3=Ellen P. |last4=Gaylor |first4=Michael O. |last5=Mainor |first5=T. Matteson |last6=Duff |first6=William H. |bibcode=2001Natur.412..140H|s2cid=4395266}} PCBS are occasionally detected despite production being banned since the 1970s. In 2007, unusually high levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detected in Milorganite that was donated to the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County and subsequently applied on parkland.{{cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29423464.html|title=Chemicals in fertilizer shut parts of parks | last=Behm | first=Don |date=July 21, 2007|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830045831/http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29423464.html|archive-date=30 August 2009|df=mdy-all}} The cost to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and taxpayers was estimated as $4.7 million.{{cite news |url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29473719.html|title=Milorganite contamination sourced|date=July 13, 2008|quote=Toxic chemical may have leaked from old die-casting company|first=Don|last=Behm|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921162355/http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29473719.html|archive-date=21 September 2015|df=mdy-all}} PCBs were banned from commerce in the US in the mid-1970s. The source of the PCB contamination was later determined to be a shuttered die-casting facility. The PCBs made their way to the treatment plant when sewer lines were cleaned years after the facility stopped operation.

The United States Geological Survey analyzed in 2014 nine different consumer products containing biosolids as a main ingredient for 87 organic chemicals found in cleaners, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and other products. This analysis detected 55 of the 87 organic chemicals measured in at least one of the nine biosolid samples, with 45 chemicals found in Milorganite.{{cite web |url=http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc/municipal_biosolids.html |title=Land Application of Municipal Biosolids |website=Environmental Health – Toxic Substances |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=April 24, 2015 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111215846/https://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc/municipal_biosolids.html |url-status=dead }}{{Citation Needed|reason=USGS site linked does not list Milorganite|date=April 2021}}

The incidence and effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFOs and PFA) in Milorganite, and municipal waste in general{{mdash}}as a part of the waste stream, and as a source of water and environmental contamination{{mdash}}has been a subject of study, controversy and concern.{{cite web |url=https://www.mi-wea.org/docs/4._Lee_Linda-PFAS.pdf |title=PFAS – More Than You Ever Wanted to Know and Then Some |first1=Linda S. |last1=Lee |display-authors=etal |date=March 13, 2019 |publisher=Purdue University Biosolids Conference |access-date=September 20, 2019 |archive-date=September 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920191915/https://www.mi-wea.org/docs/4._Lee_Linda-PFAS.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite journal|last1=Kim Lazcano|first1=Rooney|last2=Perre|first2=Chloé|last3=Mashtare|first3=Michael L.|last4=Lee|first4=Linda S.|title=Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially available biosolid-based products: The effect of treatment processes|journal=Water Environment Research|volume=91|issue=12|pages=1669–77|year=2019|issn=1061-4303|doi=10.1002/wer.1174|pmid=31260167|doi-access=|bibcode=2019WaEnR..91.1669K }}

• Water resource management

{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{cite book |last1=Leary |first1=Raymond D. |last2=Peot |first2=Werner A. |year=1973 |title=Development of a Wastewater Treatment System for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District}}

• {{Cite web|url=https://www.milorganite.com/|title=Milorganite Fertilizer - For Better Results.|date=July 14, 2016|website=Milorganite|accessdate=June 14, 2024}} Official website of milorganite
• {{Cite web |url=http://agr.wa.gov/PestFert/Fertilizers/FertDB/Product1.aspx?ltr=M |title=Washington State Department of Agriculture Fertilizer and Pesticide Database – "M" |access-date=2014-03-28 |archive-date=2014-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030184714/http://agr.wa.gov/PestFert/Fertilizers/FertDB/Product1.aspx?ltr=M |url-status=live }}
• [http://www.biopreferred.gov/BioPreferred/ USDA Bio-Preferred Program]

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