Disposal of sewage sludge is a problem for every community throughout the country. Currently sludges with varying amounts of pre-treatment (Class A and Class B) are land applied to agricultural fields. We have been monitoring the effects of applying sewage sludge (mostly residential and light industry) to an agricultural field in Northwest Ohio. Application is achieved by disking the sludge into the top 10 cm of soil at discreet times of the year prior to planting. Limiting factors tend to be either nutrient levels and/or heavy metal accumulation. To date, nitrate, organic carbon and heavy metal concentrations (both pollutant and plant essential elements) have been monitored at ~100 sites, at 3 depths each, on five dates during the first year in an applied and a control field in the same climatic zone and soil series. Changes with time relative to application (temporal changes), degradation, climate and depth (vertical changes) are documented. We expect to continue monitoring this field. We have also reanalyzed sites of historic sludge application where chemical data was available to determine the fate of heavy metal contaminants. Besides discerning the influence on soil quality, we can detect contaminants from other sources. During the summer of 2005 we will begin monitoring phosphates and pharmaceuticals in these same fields. This is only one part of a much larger study that includes additional fields, application techniques, and analyses of microorganisms and satellite imagery.