http://durgan.org/2016/May%202016/2%20May%202016%20City%20Compost/HTML/ 2 May 2016 City Compost Brantford makes available compost for pickup daily during the month of May as long as the supply lasts. Two garbage cans full are allowed daily free of charge. I transport it in a box in the van and go each day. The box contains half a cubic yard. The compost is transported by wheelbarrow to selected areas in the garden area. Seven wheelbarrows equals a cubic yard. This is my mains source of fertilizer and soil conditioner.
If it is tested for heavy metal contamination, it is a well kept secret. I know of no published data about what is used for the base. Rumour, meaning I heard by word of mouth, indicates that it is domestic yard waste and all vegetative city material. At least it is not city sewage sludge. The other choice is pot ash from Saskatchewan.
There is some risk of contamination from busy roads and from former industrial lands, but hopefully that risk is not too high in Brantford. Older houses painted with lead-based paints are another potential source of contamination. I'm a bit surprised that the city doesn't do some testing to ward off possible lawsuits.
