Sludge Watch ==> Virginia - funds denied for combined sewer overflow - sludge supervision funded

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

How do our rivers stay so polluted from sewage?  Read how the state of  
Virginia denied funds to complete a project to address combined sewer 
overflow.  Combined sewer overflow is where the sanitary sewers and storm 
sewers are constructed in such a way that they overflow straight into the 
water during rain events.  Most sewers in North America are constructed to 
do this.

Don't you think that if it was a pulp mill or a steel mill we would have 
stopped this kind of massive unregulated discharge of industrial 
contamination by now?

In the same story, the funds have been approved to provide Dept of Health 
staff to the Dept of the Environment to oversee the land application of 
sludge.  Hard to see how this is more than shuffling deck chairs on the 
Titanic.  There is no science demonstrating that sludge is 'safe' since no 
one has undertatken such tests...but the Virginia Dept of Health gets the 
"Medieval Scientist of the Year" award for assuming that "unresearched 
health risk" means "no health risk".

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http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA/MGArticle/LNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193025452&path=

City CSO money suffers setback


By Conor Reilly
mreilly at newsadvance.com
February 4, 2007



RICHMOND - Efforts to restore state money to help Lynchburg pay for a $300 
million dollar sewer system cleanup project suffered a significant setback 
Sunday when a powerful House of Delegates budget committee eliminated 
funding headed for the city.

The House Appropriations Committee pulled $9.1 million out of the state 
budget that would have helped both Lynchburg and Richmond pay to disconnect 
their combined sewer overflow (CSO) system, which contributes to Chesapeake 
Bay pollution by dumping raw sewage into the James River after heavy rains.

The move was one of many to affect the Lynchburg area as the GOP-dominated 
House and Senate reported amendments on Sunday to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s 
budget. Many other recommendations - including approval to a long-sought 
move regarding the oversight of biosolids application - were favorable to 
the Lynchburg area.

The CSO money was yanked because the two cities have already substantially 
completed the projects, according to a subcommittee’s recommendation. The 
recommendation also said that the state has already significantly supported 
the CSO program.

“The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Senate - Republicans and 
Democrats - and Democrats in the House all recognize that this is a public 
health issue,” Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg, said Sunday. “All of us 
working together need to change the minds of the House Republican 
leadership. This is a serious issue.”

But a Lynchburg spokeswoman said CSO is the city’s most expensive capital 
project. The city has spent $111 million to date to disconnect water and 
sewer lines, but still is looking at roughly $300 million to finish the 
work.

“I think the reasons that they cited didn’t represent the actual situation 
we’re facing,” said Linda McMinimy, Lynchburg’s lobbyist.

And Valentine said that work is far from over. To complete the project in 20 
years, it would require $15 million a year, she said.

The action is consistent with a move last year, when the 
Republican-dominated House of Delegates pulled $3.75 million for the city’s 
CSO program. That prompted some to say it was political punishment directed 
at the newly-elected Democratic Lynchburg Delegate Shannon Valentine.

While the House committee pulled the funding, the Senate Finance Committee 
included the same $9.1 million for CSO work Sunday.

If House Appropriations Committee members’ reasoning remain the same, 
though, it’s unlikely that they will approve the Senate’s version. Like last 
year, the measures set the stage for a conference battle at the end of this 
session.

The budget amendment will be voted on by the full House and Senate this 
week. They must then be reconciled with the other chamber’s version before 
being sent to the governor for approval.

Here is a quick look at how other Lynchburg-area issues fared in the 
amendments presented on Sunday:

Biosolids

Both the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee passed 
budget measures that would alter the way Virginia regulates controversial 
sewage sludge, a fertilizer made from treated human waste.

The committees recommend that biosolids funding be transferred from the 
Virginia Department of Health, an agency local lawmakers have criticized as 
“ineffective.”

The Senate measure would give the Virginia Department of Environmental 
Quality (DEQ) $1.7 million to oversee the application of biosolids across 
the state.

The House budget amendment would transfer roughly $600,000 and two employees 
from VDH to DEQ to oversee sludge spreading on farmland. It would also give 
the state Department of Conservation and Recreation $173,000 and two 
employees to develop a program designed to help farmers manage any potential 
pollution before sludge is spread.

The transfer from VDH to DEQ is being closely watched in Bedford and 
Campbell counties, where sludge is becoming more problematic for residents.

Local legislators have said that VDH ignores complaints from residents, and 
says the issue is not a high priority because they’ve decided sludge is safe 
based on available science.

But lawmakers say the science is debatable.

Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell said DEQ is more adept at regulation and also 
has the teeth to enforce permits.

The administration has said it supports biosolids regulations moving to DEQ, 
but only if the General Assembly properly funds the program.