Sludge Watch ==> Virginia - Committee begins work on sludge ordinance

[Maureen Reilly]

10/12/2006
Committee begins work on sludge ordinance
By: Kevin Allen

The immediate pressure on Rappahannock County's sludge issue may have 
subsided, but the issue has not gone away.
Rappahannock County Administrator John McCarthy and Commonwealth's Attorney 
Peter Luke have assembled a committee for input on drafting an ordinance to 
regulate the land application of sewage sludge in the county. The 
five-person group met for the first time Wednesday in the county meeting 
room on Gay Street to begin fleshing out a proposal.

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Joining McCarthy and Luke on the committee are Susan Trumbo of Recyc Systems 
and Tim Bondelid and Rick Kohler, who were appointed to the committee by 
RappFLOW and the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection, 
respectively.

The county has had a ban on the land application of sewage sludge since 
1994. However, since sludge application is allowed by state law, the 
county's ban would likely not withstand a strong legal challenge.

The sludge issue came to a head in recent weeks when two county farmers 
applied for permits to spread treated sewage sludge in place of fertilizer 
on their properties. Both farmers have since withdrawn their permit 
applications, but county leaders want to have an ordinance in place to 
regulate any future sludge applications.

"The immediacy has been taken off with the withdrawal of the application," 
McCarthy said.

As a starting point, the committee is working from a draft biosolids 
ordinance created by the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia 
Department of Health along with haulers and appliers of biosolids.

"We're not going to get to any conclusions today, but just make sure we're 
on the same path," McCarthy said.

The county will need to hire a biosolids monitor to ensure the ordinance is 
followed, but the costs associated with monitoring will be reimbursed by the 
state. Added costs could possibly come into play if the county chooses to 
run tests beyond what the state requires.

Bondelid said he was concerned that the state does not require testing for 
PCBs in sludge. If the county wants to ensure that sludge spread on county 
land is free of PCBs, additional tests would be necessary.

The committee also plans to develop specific requirements for public 
notification and land buffers around areas of sludge application and 
protocol for maintaining a central registry of where and how often sludge is 
applied on land in the county. The registry information would be available 
to prospective buyers if a property were up for sale and would also be taken 
into consideration if a landowner applies for a change of land use.

McCarthy scheduled another meeting for Oct. 25 in the hope that the 
committee could have a rough draft of the proposal to show the Rappahannock 
County Board of Supervisors before the board meets Nov. 6. The board will 
then discuss whether the proposed ordinance is ready for a public hearing, 
which will likely happen in January or February, McCarthy said.

E-mail the reporter at kallen at timespapers.com





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