This Letter to the Editor appeared in July 24th edition of the East Hampton Star.

I have been on the board of East End Community Organic Farm for one year.  Along with composting and finances and community  
outreach, arsenic has been the major topic of concern.   How much is there and what to do about it and how to respond to the press and public?

EECO Farm has been accused of being aloof and arrogant, of being a prissy garden club, and even worse in some circles.  The truth is that the board members, eleven in all, have been reluctant to speak to the arsenic controversy because the issues are complex and easily misread; most comments would sound either self-serving or self-incriminating.  So EECO has let others do the speechifying, most of which are well-intended but based on inaccuracies.

As it happens, I am scientifically unsophisticated enough and politically incorrect enough to speak up.  Like you, I have been concerned about EECO's arsenic and quiescence for some time.  Rather than drinking any Kool Aid, I have spent many months researching arsenic on Long Lane.

Here are some complicated truths.

• By practicing organic farming techniques for the past seven years, EECO Farm has reduced the levels of arsenic in our community gardens from 45 parts per million (ppm) to a median of 11 ppm.  This was validated by EcoTest Labs of Babylon, Long Island in May, 2008.The levels are considered safe by any measure and by all government agencies.  New York State Health Department says anything under 16 ppm is safe.  New York DEC states 3-11 ppm is perfectly normal "background" level in soil.   Federal EPA considers anything less than 43 ppm to be acceptable.
• By comparison, recent soil samples taken from the campus of East Hampton High School had levels of 10, 17, and 20 ppm.  (For practical purposes, one part per million can be understood as one drop of water in 18 gallons or one second of time in 11 days.)
• EECO sent the results of our soil tests to Dr. Steven H. Lamm, MD, DTPH, head of Consultants in Epidemiology and Occupational Health Inc. in Washington, D.C.  He is a leading expert on arsenic and other elements found in soil, air and water.Dr. Lamm wrote: "These are not levels to worry about, but are in the natural, non-toxic background range...The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry considers levels below 20 ppm to pose no threat to humans."
• In fact, Americans typically consume between 25 and 50 micrograms of arsenic every day with no ill effect. (One microgram is comparable to one ppm.)  Shellfish is the biggest source of arsenic, followed by poultry, meat, rice cereals, baked goods, fats and oils.  Fruits and vegetables barely register at all.
• As for working on the farm, Rufus Chaney, the USDA heavy metals expert, says only chronic doses of arsenic can lead to disease; that is, exposure to extremely high levels every day for a lifetime.  According to the Agency for Toxic Substances, the average American woman, weighing 132 pounds, would have to eat more than 18 micrograms every day for her entire life to see any ill effects.

How much arsenic actually seaps into the food grown at EECO Farm?

Earlier this summer, we had EECO lettuces, asparagus, and herbs tested at EcoTest Labs in Babylon.  The results were
encouraging: less than 1 ppm.  That's a scientific designation: "less than 1 ppm."  It means barely detectable.  It is hard to imagine any comparable farm producing cleaner produce.  To continue our vigilance, we will, at summer's end, test other plants, fully grown and always the parts that are consumed.

Organic farming reduces toxins and amplifies nutritious elements.  That's the purpose of organic farming.  If it were not true, no one would bother.  EECO Farm would not exist.  That fruits and vegetables are generally more delicious is a felicitious by- product of using no pesticides, no fungicides, no herbicides, and no synthetic fertilizers.  Health benefits are accrued to farmers, consumers, and Mother Earth. Whatever arsenic that may still exist at EECO Farm is either naturally occuring or left over from a half century of pesticide usage that contaminated much farmland on Long Island and beyond.

Arsenic does not vanish.  It is not biodegradable.   It is buried by smart farmers and clever gardeners who till the soil six to nine inches deep, who then use mulch high in phospherous to bind with arsenic and render it less accessible to plant life, who use homemade compost, and then, come the autumn, plant dense cover crops to hold the soil in place and prevent ill winds from blowing anything across the road -- no arsenic found its way to East Hampton High from EECO Farm.

Arsenic is frightening.  The word and the substance.  There is no denying its history.  And while any traces of arsenic is cause for attention, and active remediation, organic farming is one of the most efficient and least expensive ways to reduce levels of any hazardous metals in any soil. There are, of course, a few common sensical safety tips worth keeping in mind, especially if there are small children around.

• Don't let your kids eat the dirt.   Kids like to eat dirt.  No one knows exactly why, but it's not a good idea under any circumstances.
• Leave all dirt and dust outside when you return home. That is, clean your shoes, your tools, and your self.
• Wash all food.  Any danger is in the dirt.
• Peel root vegetables when possible.
• If there a wind storm when you are at the farm, it is best not to breathe the dust particles.  Random exposure has never proved damaging, but it's unpleasant.

These tips are posted at the farm headquarters, as well as on the EECO Farm website.  (www.eecofarm.com)

Everyone involved with EECO Farm cares about health -- their own and yours and the South Fork's.  Families do not plant and seed and till and weed and water and care for their gardens purely for the good exercise and fresh air -- not one of the hundred gardeners (or Mary the beekeeper) would toil at EECO Farm if this were not a community organic farm.  There is no profit motive.  There is nothing to deter us from salutary agriculture.  It is a place to work with the soil and swap stories of husbandry and compare green thumbs and pick a few extra weeds when a neighbor is away.

EECO Farm is organic on many levels.  That's why people gravitate to it and why it is flourishing. Without tooting any horns too loudly, EECO Farm is remediating 42 acres of town land without government financing, without corporate backing, without inordinate expense to the taxpayers.   Everyone involved is a volunteer -- no one at the farm  
is paid, including board members.  An annual stipend from the Town of East Hampton is used to repair equipment and mend fences and install wells and reach out to the community with educational programs.  EECO exists to spread the word and deeds of organic farming, to acquaint students with the joys of growing your own food, to host nature walks and environmental talks and picnics at the farm, to help feed neighbors in need, to get healthy produce distributed at farmstands and farmers' markets and restaurants from Water Mill to Sag Harbor to Montauk.

How ironic that such a place is associated with arsenic, that a letter of this nature is required.  After seven years of strictly organic agriculture, common sense might lead one to conclude that EECO is hale and hearty, and we are.  We are also look forward to seeing you at the farm -- and the farm stand -- both more vibrant and luscious than you remember.

Bruce Buschel,
Member, EECO Farm Board of Directors