Sludge Watch ==> Florida - sludge overapplication, water violations, cows standing in sludged fields

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060612/NEWS0105/60611020/1075

LaBelle cattle fields are Lee sewage dump
Fort Myers disposal company investigated

By Joel Moroney
jmoroney at news-press.com 
Originally posted on June 12, 2006


Thousands of gallons of sewage sludge are being pumped onto fields where cattle graze next to a stream just east of LaBelle by a company Lee County has paid millions to dispose of the human-waste byproduct. 

Both the closeness of the stream and the presence of grazing livestock are potential environmental violations for which the company was recently cited, according to Abdul Ahmadi, water facilities administrator for the southern district of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

"Obviously they didn't pay attention and do the right thing," Ahmadi said. "We will initiate enforcement as soon as we investigate." 


      Cattle graze Friday where thousands of gallons of Lee County sewage sludge is being pumped onto fields along a stream just east of LaBelle.  
The company - Karle Enviro-Organic Recycling of Fort Myers and Crawfordsville, Ind. - has been paid more than $4 million by Lee County for the annual removal of about 15 million gallons of sewage sludge from 11 treatment plants, according to county billing records and the contract, which began in 2004.

Ahmadi said Karle agreed to pay $1,000 on April 26 to settle a violation and promised to comply with water and grazing restrictions.

According to the law, livestock are not permitted to graze on the land for 30 days and discharge must be more than 200 feet from any body of water - and more than 1,000 feet in certain instances. 
"The idea is to make sure the cows don't get sick and to make sure the consumer is protected," Ahmadi said.

More than 60 percent of such sludge is applied to land, according to Department of Environmental Protection. When done correctly, it is a safe way to fertilize farmland. However, over-application or incorrect application can be unsafe for humans and animals because of the bacteria, metals, and other chemical residue leftover from the treatment process, according to DEP. 

Maximum penalty is up to $10,000 per day per violation.

But Commissioner Ray Judah said the county might not wait on environmental regulators to take action.

"What we need to do is cut them loose - terminate the contract and find a responsible company to handle the disposal of wastewater sludge," Judah said. "It is inexcusable. It's affecting public and environmental health and it is an issue I will bring up at the commissioners meeting Tuesday."

County Chairwoman Tammy Hall also said the issue will be addressed.

"We need to find out what's going on," she said. "It's not something that is acceptable to the county."

The News-Press used a helicopter Friday to visit the dump site on Goodno Ranch property a mile behind a private lane, south of State Road 80 and six miles east of LaBelle in Hendry County.

The company was spraying the sludge from a waste cannon as about 50 cattle grazed nearby or wandered through the rural stream.

The spraying stopped when the helicopter hovered overhead.

It is unclear whether it stopped because of the helicopter or because the tanker was empty. However, during the 20-minute flyover, the tanker remained at the pumping station even as another semi loaded with 6,000 gallons of waste arrived.

The spraying did not resume.

Krish Alexander, Karle's Florida division manager, acknowledged the company paid $1,000 to settle a complaint in April that cited discharging the waste amid livestock and in close proximity to the water.

She contended Friday that the company was in compliance. She had been made aware of the helicopter before she was contacted by The News-Press.

"If there were no cows in the spray zone, we're fine," Alexander said.

She said a hotwire - a strand of wire that operates similar to an electric fence - was being used to keep away the cattle from the spray and would not have been visible from a helicopter.

"If you're familiar with cattle, they hang out under foot," Alexander said. "Anywhere there is a pickup truck, they think they are going to be fed."

Alexander said the company is using six different sites on 2,200 acres. It handles about 22 trucks a day, each containing 6,000 gallons of sewage sludge.

>From the air, The News-Press could not determine exactly how far away the discharge was from the stream.

She said the company has tried to work with the rancher to keep the cows farther away.

"We are at the rancher's mercy," she said. "The rancher was out of town today."

A consent form lists the landowner as Dwayne House of Moore Haven and the ranch manager as Gene Fulford.

The forms require the farms not to allow grazing for 30 days. Phone calls to House and Fulford were not returned over the weekend.

A woman working for Gene Fulford Sr. said it was Gene Fulford Jr. who had been affiliated with the ranch. A call to a residential number for Gene Fulford Jr. also was not returned. 

"The hauler is responsible for land application, and partially the landowner," Ahmadi said. "But it's the hauler, primarily, that we take enforcement against."

But Ahmadi said it was unlikely even serious violations would result in the loss of permits the company needs to operate.

"If you do that, there probably will be nobody else to take care of the (sewage) facilities," he said. 

Another letter in April requested $2,500 to settle what environmental officials said were waste loads significantly higher than allowed on an Okeechobee ranch owned by Fulford.

It referenced a warning letter in February that outlined six months of contact with the company that had not resolved the issue.

That letter said application at the Fulford ranch for the year 2004 was 50.6 pounds an acre while the maximum allowed rate was 34.7 pounds an acre.

The only issues the company has had in Indiana involved a traffic accident with one of its tankers, according to a spokesman with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. 
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