Sludge Watch ==> Virginia Asssembly must Write Rules for Sludge Haulers

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Assembly must write rules for sludge haulers
Lynchburg News & Advance
Sunday, August 6, 2006


Why does debate over spreading biosolids - sewage sludge - on Virginia 
farmlands continue unabated?

It’s mostly because up until three or four years ago no one knew much about 
the sludge-hauling industry, that is, no one but the state Department of 
Health, the sludge haulers and the farmers who benefitted from the spread of 
free fertilizer on their pastures and hayfields.

And that’s the way they wanted to keep it.

The health department had a few rules the sludge haulers had helped them 
write and the farmers’ fields greened up with the spread of the 
nitrogen-rich substance on them.

Never mind that the sludge also enriches the streams into which it flowed 
during runoff after a heavy rain.

Never mind that the source of the sludge is often New York or New Jersey 
municipal sewage treatment plants that also serve a number of heavy 
industries that are sending who knows what into the plants.

Never mind the indescribable odor associated with the sludge.

And never mind the potential adverse effects the sludge could have on the 
health of those who live near the land on which it is spread.

In her stories last Sunday, Blair Goldstein of The News & Advance raised the 
number of important questions that keep being asked - without satisfactory 
answers - about the sludge industry. Questions such as: Where does it come 
from? What’s in it? Is it safe? Where will it be spread, and when?

It is perhaps the last two questions that have been the most perplexing to 
those in the counties - and county government - in the region. That’s 
because the counties have only recently become involved in the spread of 
biosolids thanks to a number of activists in their areas who are concerned 
about the sludge and its effects on their health and that of their 
neighbors.

While the health department is charged with regulating biosolids in 
Virginia, it has shown little interest in going beyond the permitting 
process and the rules it has written with the help of the waste haulers 
themselves. With the growth of the industry, that leaves it up to the 
localities to come up with notification requirements about when the 
biosolids will be delivered and where.

The result has been a confusing patchwork of local rules that only the 
General Assembly can untangle in the form of state laws regulating the 
spread of biosolids in Virginia. Many counties exert little or no local 
oversight, giving the sludge haulers sovereignty over their fields.

In Campbell County, one sludge hauler has agreed to post signs before 
biosolids are spread and contact local leaders before the trucks arrive. But 
there are no firm time specifications and the arrangement is not enforced by 
state law or local statute.

In Bedford County, no public notice is required before biosolids are spread. 
Instead, as Goldstein reported, the county administrator is given a long 
list of potential sites that could receive the free fertilizer during a 
100-day period. There are 80 permitted sites in the county.

Last month, Appomattox County - where the biosolids battles began about four 
years ago - passed an ordinance that created a biosolids monitor position. 
It also requires waste haulers to inform the local government two weeks 
before biosolids are spread and to erect a sign on the property two weeks 
before it arrives.

And in Amherst County, where biosolids have not yet been spread, an 
ordinance requires waste haulers to inform the local government two weeks 
before spreading, submit proposed haul routes and post signs for 60 days 
after biosolids are spread.

Amherst and Appomattox are two of about 25 counties in Virginia that have 
approved biosolids ordinances.

As you can see, there is little uniformity to the local ordinances, all of 
which are basically designed to let the public know when and where the 
biosolids are going to be spread.

In the absence of local laws, no state or federal law requires waste haulers 
to post signs on land scheduled to received the stuff or notify neighbors 
that the sludge is on its way. Nor are the waste haulers required to make 
public the source of the biosolids.

The General Assembly has avoided the sludge issue for years. It is way past 
time for the lawmakers to put some controls on the practice for the sake of 
those whose health could be affected by the spread of the sludge.

Campbell County Administrator R. David Laurrell put his finger on one reason 
the Assembly has been reluctant to get involved in regulating biosolids - 
oversight.

“If the state wants to maintain control of the application of biosolids, 
fine,” he said. “But then take responsibility for providing the staffing 
that’s necessary to do the oversight.”

Creating a uniform set of rules for the sludge haulers throughout Virginia 
would be in the best interests of all Virginians. It’s time for the state’s 
lawmakers to come to grips with the issue. A set of rules applied uniformly 
around the state would also curtail the debate over the spread of biosolids.

This story can be found at: 
http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189830527&path=!news!opinion