Neighbors raise a stink about human waste fertilizer

A war of words has erupted in Dubuque County over what one neighbor calls a very smelly fertilizer.

The fertilizer is sewage sludge from the Waste Water Treatment Plant in Cedar Rapids, in other words, treated human waste.

Farmers say it is rich in nutrients. Two neighbors say the odor is offensive, and the reason they are getting sick.

Jim and Karen Ellerbach say the stench and chemicals in the air coming from the Wulkekuhl farm are destroying their health.

Karen Ellerbach said, "We've both been in the emergency room probably about four times and Jim's been going to a doctor and both doctors want us to move off the farm."

Jim showed us a doctor's note, diagnosing him with pneumonia, citing exposure to human waste from his neighbor's property.

Jim Ellerbach said, "As you can see it's taking my life away, if my lungs are damaged, what can I do?"

DNR Environmental Specialist Mike Wade says the fertilizer the Wulfekuhl's are using contains human waste but it is legal.

Wade said, "I'm not really a doctor but as far as the regulations it complies with all of our regulations regarding the use of this sludge material."

Lee Wulfekuhl said, "We are trying to help the city by not having to spend extra money on the land-fill and helping the farmers by giving him a product to use on the soil that's good."

State Representative Roger Thomas is trying to figure out if laws regarding using human waste should be changed.

Thomas said, "I have to figure out if there is something we need to do to look at differently, whether it's changing stock piling permits or whatever."

Many of the other people who live in this neighborhood were not home when we knocked on their doors. The neighbors we did talk to say they don't smell anything out of the ordinary and no one in their households have been sick.

Wulfekuhl said, "I have not heard any other complaints except for Jimmy Ellerbach in this area."

Jim Ellerbach said, "You talk to neighbors around here, not just neighbors, people that drive by this road, they don't like it."

Farmer versus farmer, it's an argument both families say just plain stinks.

The Ellerbach's say they have not filed a lawsuit against their neighbors. But they say if something doesn't change soon, that will be their next move.

Katie Wiedemann, KCRG-TV