State Wants to Stop Sludge COLUMBUS, OH (WOUB) - Ohio wants to ban farmers from spreading sewage sludge on their fields during the winter.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says the proposal is intended to prevent incidents in which sludge that was spread on frozen farm fields runs off and poisons streams during sudden thaws or unseasonable rainstorms.

The EPA first proposed a ban in 2007 but withdrew it after officials at sewage-treatment plants, farmers and companies that spread sludge complained that it was too expensive and unnecessary.

The agency says about 140,000 tons of sludge is spread on as many as 8,800 fields across Ohio each year.

© Copyright 2012, WOUB