Sludge Watch ==> Sludge diverted away from one medically challanged resident toward another

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin

A few days ago a sludge company in Virginia yielding to pleas from the 
husband on behalf of his wife, who is a cancer patient, to delay or suspend 
spreading sludge near their rural home.
Now that sludge is being sent to another rural neighborhood, near the homes 
of people who are suffering from respiratory problems.
..............................................................................

Campbell Sludge Diverted to Charlotte County


By Blair Goldstein
bgoldstein at newsadvance.com / (434) 385-5556
May 17, 2006



Nutri-Blend Inc.’s decision to delay spreading biosolids in Campbell County 
due to a sick neighbor’s plea has led the company to send biosolids to 
nearby Charlotte County about two weeks ahead of schedule.

Some neighbors living near the Charlotte County pastures say sick people 
live in their community, too, and question why the president of Nutri-Blend 
would heed some neighbors’ concerns and not others.

“It seems their gain is our loss,” said Faye Elder, who can see one of the 
four Charlotte County pastures from her driveway.

She said the community fought the arrival of biosolids on one of the same 
fields two years ago, compiling a petition with more than 500 signatures.

“People are upset, but they worked so hard before and nothing was done … We 
knew (biosolids) were coming back, just not so soon.”

The Richmond-based waste-hauling company unloaded equipment in Charlotte 
County on Friday, the same day 100-truck loads of biosolids were originally 
supposed to arrive about 10 miles away in Campbell County.

John Simons, president of Nutri-Blend, announced last Thursday that his 
company would delay delivering biosolids to the Campbell County pasture for 
at least a year.

He said later that evening the decision came after talking to Dale 
Ellington, a neighbor who lives less than half a mile from the tract. 
Ellington’s wife, Georgia, has cancer and is sensitive to odors.

Simons was not available for comment Wednesday.

Nutri-Blend began spreading biosolids on the first of four fields owned by 
Herbert and Mary Milton on Tuesday.

The fields are located off of Virginia 619 and Virginia 617. The pastures 
range in size from 48 acres to 117 acres.

Bill Burnett, the office manager for Nutri-Blend, said plans often change 
when there is a delay in another project.

“We have to vary plans … if something falls through,” he said.

“We had planned on going to Herbert Milton’s farm after we went to 
Campbell.”

Burnett said it is hard to tell if the exact shipment of biosolids that 
would have arrived in Campbell County is now being spread in Charlotte 
County.

He said like the Campbell County project, the biosolids in Charlotte County 
are most likely coming from wastewater treatment plants in Middlesex, N.J., 
or New York City.

Herbert Milton said the tons of free fertilizer are his only hope of making 
a profit this year. He said spreading biosolids is a matter of survival 
because he cannot afford the increasing costs of commercial fertilizer. He 
said he has operated at loss the last two years.

Milton, 77, said he first attempted to receive biosolids in 1980, but was 
denied because the fertilizer was not available in the county at that time. 
He said he has been learning about the pros and cons of the treated sewage 
sludge since then.

“It wasn’t a hasty decision,” he said. “We did our research and we did our 
homework.”

He said if concerned neighbors did their homework as well they would find 
that studies show biosolids are a safe way to recycle waste and provide 
fertilizers for farm, forest and pasture land.

“This is not a weapon of massive destruction,” Milton said. “It’s perfectly 
good recycled nutrients …

“We wouldn’t do anything to our neighbors that we wouldn’t do to ourselves 
with regard to health.”

Milton said the closest biosolids will come to his Aspen Wall Road home is 
about half a mile. He said he would spread closer to his front door but 
can’t because the land’s high nitrogen levels from waste left behind by 
grazing cattle.

But Nora Daubenspeck, who lives about a quarter of a mile from one of 
Milton’s pastures, said the biosolids are coming too close to her home.

Daubenspeck, 70, said she has severe asthma problems and is very sensitive 
to odor. In order for her to attend church, the entire congregation agreed 
not to wear perfume or aftershave and decided not to bring flowers into the 
building.

Daubenspeck said when she drove past a farm where biosolids were recently 
spread in Madisonville in Charlotte County her eyes began to run, her throat 
to started to swell and her head began to swirl.

“When they put this out down here I will just leave for a few days because I 
just can’t be around this stuff,” she said.

“It’s been hard for a lot of people. If (the Miltons) couldn’t pay their 
fertilizer bill, I’m sure people would help them.”

She said because she can leave she is more worried about the children and 
neighbors who cannot get away.

Since Manuel Toombs was hired as a local biosolids monitor in Charlotte 
County last August, he said he has supervised the spread of biosolids on 
about 1,300 acres. His job is to monitor the companies that spread biosolids 
and to field neighbors complaints.

Since he was hired, he said he has only heard one medical complaint and a 
handful of neighbors’ concerns.

But, he said he is expecting the Milton project to raise a larger outcry.

“I think this is probably going to be the worse place in the county because 
last time it was,” Toombs said.

Elder said the community brought the 500-strong petition to the Board of 
Supervisors two years ago. She said Nutri-Blend decided not to spread 
biosolids on the entire pasture as a result of the community concern.

Toombs said there was no local monitor two years ago and his presence should 
give neighbors some peace of mind.

According to Toombs, it should take Nutri-Blend about a month to spread 
biosolids on the four pastures.

Biosolids have been spread in Bedford and Appomattox counties; potential 
sites in Amherst and Campbell counties have been identified.

In 2004, 240,000 dry tons of biosolids were applied as fertilizer to 50,000 
acres of crop, pasture and forest lands in Virginia. About 60 percent of the 
waste came from out of state.

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