Sludge Watch ==> Virginia - sludge is hot topic in General Assembly

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludge a hot topic in General Assembly
By: Kevin Allen
02/07/2007

Rappahannock County residents and officials are not the only Virginians 
working to regulate sewage sludge in the commonwealth. Sludge has been front 
and center in the General Assembly this year as well.


Eight sludge-related bills have already been introduced in the Senate and 
House of Delegates this year. Half of those never made it out of committee, 
but four are still alive.


Sludge, also known as biosolids, is composed mostly of human waste that is 
treated to reduce the prevalence of disease-causing bacteria. It is 
sometimes used by farmers as a low-cost fertilizer.

The advantage of using sludge to enrich fields is that it saves farmers from 
having to buy more expensive commercially produced fertilizer and it 
prevents localities from having to pay to bury the product in landfills.

However, many residents in Rappahannock and other parts of Virginia are 
concerned sludge may pose long-term dangers to human health and the 
environment.

Del. Kathy Byron, R-Lynchburg, is sponsoring a bill that would consolidate 
the regulatory program for the land application of sludge under the 
authority of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Currently, 
the responsibility for sludge regulation is split between the DEQ and the 
Department of Health. The bill was passed by the House on Monday.

Byron also sponsored a House resolution that calls for a panel of experts to 
study the impact of the land application of sludge on human health and the 
environment. The resolution also passed the House on Monday.

Byron represents a district in which sludge has been a very contentious 
issue.

In early January, a Lynchburg newspaper reported that hundreds of residents 
of Campbell County, which includes Lynchburg, asked their Board of 
Supervisors to adopt an ordinance that would ban corporations from applying 
sludge on land in their county.

Citizens Against Toxic Sludge, a community group in Campbell, hired a lawyer 
to work with them on pushing for the ban, which was sparked by a company's 
plan to spread sludge on a 3,100-acre field in the county.



In the Senate

Three sludge related bills have been passed by the Senate this year and, 
like Byron, the senators sponsoring the measures represent at least a 
portion of Campbell County.

A bill proposed by Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, would require 
local-government certification as part of the state permit application to 
apply sludge.

The measure would ensure that the application site is in compliance with 
local ordinances. The bill also gives localities the authority to adopt an 
ordinance that "reasonably" restricts the land application of sludge to 
certain areas where public health, welfare or safety could be affected. The 
bill was passed by the Senate on Jan. 25.

Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, is sponsoring two sludge-related bills.

The first would allow a locality to adopt an ordinance that requires a 
special-exception permit for the storage of sewagesludge. The Senate passed 
the bill on Monday.

Newman also introduced a bill that is similar to Byron's bill to consolidate 
sludge regulation under the DEQ's authority. The bill would also require 
on-site presence of state or local officials when sludge is being applied 
and assesses a fee of $7.50 on each dry ton ofsludge applied in Virginia.



In Rappahannock

Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, and Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg - 
both of whom represent the districts that include Rappahannock - have voted 
in support of all the sludge measures that have come to a vote this year.

A committee working on an ordinance to regulate the land application of 
sludge in Rappahannock was scheduled to meet Wednesday, but the meeting was 
canceled and rescheduled for Feb. 14.

County Administrator John McCarthy told the Board of Supervisors on Monday 
that the several sludge measures in the General Assembly could end up 
affecting the wording of the county's ordinance, which currently stands at 
19 pages.

E-mail the reporter at kallen at timespapers.com