Who We Are: Neighbors and Friends
Don't Spread on Me is a grassroots, Virginia-based organization aimed at educating the public about the harms of treated sewage sludge spread as fertilizer on farms and timberland. We aim to contextualize the issue, educate the public, advocate for better policies, and explore solutions to the PFAS-contamination crisis perpetuated by historic and ongoing sewage sludge use.
What began as a small group of concerned neighbors in Albemarle County, has grown to include members in Charlottesville and in other counties. As our numbers have grown, our work has expanded, too. We are advocating at the county and state level for changes to policy and regulations regarding the land application of sewage sludge. We also communicate and collaborate with other environmental groups throughout the region. To learn more about our partner organizations, visit the Our Allies page.
We remain an all-volunteer organization. We share the goal of preventing toxic sewage sludge from contaminating more of our land, air and water and we seek to support creative, nature-based solutions that address the sources of this problem.
How it all began
One day in the spring of 2024, some signs appeared along a two-mile stretch of Plank Road, in Southern Albemarle County. Not long after that, big trucks came in and out of those properties spreading something foul. Their tires left mud and muck on the pavement up and down Plank Road. For two weeks, you had to roll up your windows and turn off the AC as your drove through, because the smell was worse than the smell of death. A smell so bad, it defied description.
Friends and neighbors started talking, comparing notes on what they knew about biosolids. One of us called the number on the signs. No one answered. As we researched biosolids, we learned to call them by their real name: sewage sludge. The more we read, the more alarmed we became.
So, we decided to get together and do something about it. We’re glad you are here and hope you will join us in this effort.