Sludge Watch ==> Fort Meade Florida - N-Viro plant to reopen

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060708/NEWS/607080324/1004


Published Saturday, July 8, 2006

State Says Treatment Plant Is OK
But some residents in Fort Meade don't want to deal with the potential 
odors.

By Suzie Schottelkotte
The Ledger


FORT MEADE -- The state is moving ahead with plans to allow a Florida 
company to reopen the former N-Viro wastewater treatment site in Fort Meade, 
much to the chagrin of some in the community.

The state Department of Environmental Protection said in a letter to 
concerned residents this week that the applicant, Appalachian Material 
Services, has met the state's requirements for a permit to treat wastewater 
on the Fort Meade site.

The agency sent letters to those who registered concerns with the DEP about 
the proposed application.

"The department has carefully and thoughtfully considered the comments 
submitted and will continue to recognize the concerns of your community as 
the permit process proceeds," wrote Jeff Greenwell, water facilities 
administrator with the DEP's regional office in Tampa.

The letter went on to say that the agency plans to issue Appalachian 
Material Services a notice of intent to issue a permit, which will be 
followed by a public hearing.

Appalachian wants to bring in liquid wastewater from sewer treatment plants 
and process it into nitrogen-based fertilizer products used in ranching.

The company has purchased the site north of Fort Meade once occupied by 
NViro, which operated a similar process until the state shut it down in 2001 
because of odor problems.

Bill Hauser, Appalachian's operations manager, said both systems involve 
processing treated wastewater, but the similarities stop there.

While N-Viro spread its processed sludge into drying beds, Appalachian will 
contain its liquid wastewater residuals in tanks at it is converted to 
fertilizer.

Hauser said his company's process allows for more odor control, virtually 
eliminating the odor issue altogether.

Fort Meade resident Arwyn Maker, one of 10 who wrote the DEP about her 
concerns, said she's skeptical.

"We're told there won't be an odor," she said, "but we've been told that 
before. I just don't feel that we need anything like this here. We've been 
through this once and it was a bad experience. It took a long time to get 
those people out and we don't want to go through that again."

Maker, who lives in Fort Meade's Oakview Lakes mobile home community, worked 
with others to collect more than 100 signatures on a petition opposing the 
treatment plant. They forwarded the petition to the DEP.

City commissioners held a special Saturday meeting in April to draft their 
letter opposing the proposal. The property is outside the city limits, so 
the city has no authority to stop the project. Commissioners hoped the DEP 
would consider their concerns.

"Once again, we have somebody else's waste coming into Fort Meade," 
Commissioner Rick Cochrane said at that meeting. "There's nothing positive 
in this for Fort Meade."

Cochrane said Friday that he's disappointed in the DEP's decision.

"At this point, we're just going to have to see what options we have left," 
he said.

Commissioner Melony Bell said she anticipated from the beginning that the 
DEP would grant the permit.

"I guess what we'll do now is see if we can stop it another way," she said. 
"I don't really know what our options are, or if we have any."

Pamala Vazquez, spokeswoman for the DEP in Tampa, said the agency will 
schedule a public hearing after Appalachian publishes the notice of intent 
in a Polk County newspaper, which is required by law.

The agency will consider comments made during that hearing before approving 
the application and issuing a permit.

Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte @theledger.com or 
863-533-9070.