Sludge Watch ==> Stratford - Tales of Pent - Up Poo

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin

Here we are again in Stratford Ontario,  Canada's scenic little version of 
England's Stratford on Avon.
Farmers in Ontario are boycotting the land application of sewage 
sludge...and the farmers around Stratford are especially keen.

This story has a great little insight on the family life at the Dill 
residence.  The Mrs Dill is going to the government and the press saying 
that the sludge that farmers refuse to spread could be stored in a pit on 
their farm....and that taxpayers money is being wasted to truck the sludge 
into London for incineration.

Meanwhile, Mr Dill was approached to provide land application of the sludge 
on the family farm and refused .... saying he wanted to be part of the farm 
boycott of sludge spreading. (Dear Dr Phil...)

Small wonder the City of Stratford won't be relying on the Dill property for 
sludge disposal.  And the problem with simply storing it is ... pathogen 
regrowth. With a sludge spreading boycott in progress...well that storage 
requirement could last a long long time.

.......................................................

Stratford Beacon Herald

Ontario

May 16, 2006


LANDOWNER QUESTIONS FATE OF SLUDGE DEAL

BY DONAL O'CONNOR, STAFF REPORTER


A Downie Ward landowner says Stratford is missing an opportunity to dispose 
of solid waste from the sewage treatment plant locally at a fraction of the 
cost of other options.
It now appears, however, that because of changed Ministry of Environment 
regulations, that's no longer an option.

Tina Dill said she is still waiting for the city to sign a deal which would 
allow the city to store sewage biosolids at the sewage pit on her property a 
few kilometres outside the city. Negotiations took place in November last 
year, she said, and the city budgeted just under $25,000 for annual storage 
of the waste over a five-year period at the Dill property.

City and sewage plant officials, however, said use of the Dill property for 
storage is a contingency the city has not yet had to pursue. In any event, 
there is still a requirement for Ministry of Environment certification of 
the Dills' pit for that purpose.

Ms. Dill questioned the wisdom of spending $1,400 daily to take sewage 
sludge to London. That's the cost the city may have to pay if sludge has to 
be trucked to London for incineration if farmers continue to reject sludge 
for spreading on their fields.

The city has applied for an emergency order to allow for burning of sludge 
in London if that becomes necessary.

"To have this emergency order now is just ridiculous," said Ms. Dill.

But city engineer George Bowa and Marcel Misuraca, senior technician at the 
sewage treatment plant, said the plant is not yet at a stage where off-site 
sludge storage is necessary. As well, they pointed out in interviews 
yesterday, Bill Dill (Ms. Dill's husband) was approached in April about 
taking biosolids from the plant for spreading on the Dills' farmland but 
turned it down.

Mr. Misuraca said Mr. Dill indicated he was supporting the farmers' protest 
action. Ms. Dill acknowledged sludge for spreading had been refused.

"We've still got plenty of (storage) space here at the plant," said Mr. 
Misuraca. "We're fine for a while. It's not hurt-ing us too much right now."

Asked how long it might be before the plant has to look at alternatives, Mr. 
Misuraca said it could be weeks or it could be a couple of months. "It all 
depends on flows coming through the plant. It depends on a lot of things."

But Mr. Misuraca said use of the Dills' storage pit for long-term storage is 
likely not going to happen because of a current Ministry of Environment 
regulation that permits only two- to 10-day storage before sludge has to be 
applied to the land.

Meanwhile, the city and Ontario Clean Water Agency (operators of the plant) 
have some potential land in sight for sludge spreading, but the fields have 
to be certified by the Ministry of the Environment before they can be used 
for that purpose.

FARM BAN

The Perth County Federation of Agriculture and other farmer federations have 
called on farmers to reject urban sludge on their land in order to send a 
message to the Ontario and federal governments about their need for more 
sup-port.