I've avoided using the free compost created by citywide composting efforts (yes, Middletown offers compost upon request, and West Hartford has a well-used program), because lawn clippings, which often find their way into these compostings, often have residual herbicides, pesticides and high-octane chemical fertilizers. In Britain, the problem has hit commercial composters. The half-life of herbicides, particularly Dow's aminopyralid, are wreaking havoc in the ornamental and vegetable gardens of the British Isles.
H/T Firedoglake.
