Sludge Watch ==> Raleigh N.C. - Spreading sludge in watershed where drinking water drawn

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Raleigh, N.C.  - The News & Observer


Residents wary of OWASA spreading biosolids


Cheryl Johnston Sadgrove


Jul. 14. 2006

Even with careful treatment, sewage sludge can hold nasty things, Orange 
County residents warned the Orange Water and Sewer Authority on Thursday.
They asked OWASA to think twice before spreading what's left over after 
wastewater treatment on farmland in its own watersheds.

OWASA currently spreads the liquidy mixture it calls biosolids and opponents 
call sewage sludge on more than 1,000 acres in Orange and Chatham counties, 
including land in the Eno River watershed. Hillsborough pulls its drinking 
water from the Eno.

The agency has been applying the waste to land for 20 years. It produces 
about six tanker truckloads a day.

During its regular meeting, OWASA invited public comments on a staff 
recommendation to apply the treated waste on farmland in the Cane Creek and 
University Lake watersheds. The agency board did not vote on the proposal.

Fear of public perception previously has kept OWASA from putting the waste 
near its own water supply, said Ed Holland, OWASA's planning director.

With confidence that the treated waste is safe, Holland said it made sense 
for OWASA to save money on fuel by trucking it to farmland closer to the 
treatment plant.

"There will be farmers in the watershed who will be glad to accept this on 
their fields," Holland said.
Residents argued that a lot is still unknown about the impact of land 
application on neighbors, the environment and the water supply.

"There's been no human health assessment done," said Nancy Holt, who lives 
across from a farm where Burlington sprays sludge.

Ken Krebs, a chemical analyst, warned the board that you don't find the 
bacteria if you're not testing specifically for it.

Mike Aitken, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor of environmental sciences and 
engineering, asked the board to set prin-ciples under which they would 
spread biosolids in the watersheds. He suggested they spread only what the 
state calls as "Class A" biosolids, which are treated at high heat for a 
longer period of time, killing more organisms.

He also recommended periodically evaluating the impact on neighbors, and 
using new science to re-evaluate the impact on the watershed as scientific 
advances become available.
Board member Marge Anders Limbert said deciding to spread the treated waste 
in OWASA's watersheds is an en-vironmental justice issue because it spreads 
biosolids in the Eno watershed.
"If we're going to do it in somebody else's watershed, we may as well put it 
in ours," Limbert said.
Board Chairman Mac Clarke said any look at alternatives to OWASA's current 
practices would have to take costs into account.

OWASA has long-term plans to pull the water out of its biosolids, which 
makes up about 97 percent of the mate-rial, before spreading it.
Clarke said that alone would be a seven-figure investment.
"We do work under certain constraints," Clarke said. "We do make biosolids 
every day."