Sludge Watch ==> pitiful plea on behalf of sick child

[Shireen]

The News & Advance [Lynchburg VA]
February 19, 2007


Health official asks for review of Bedford sludge pond site
By Sarah Watson
swatson at newsadvance.com 


The director of the Central Virginia Health District has asked state officials to revisit a decision allowing a biosolids storage facility in Bedford County because of a sick child living nearby.

The child, who is 2 years old, was born with a severe congenital birth defect known as an omphalocele, where the liver and sections of intestine form outside the body, according to a Jan. 17 letter written by Dr. Katherine Nichols, the Central Virginia health district director, to the state Department of Health.

The child is dependent on oxygen and is tube-fed, the letter said. Additionally, he has had numerous surgeries and was on a ventilator for the first 60 days of his life, according to the letter.

Nichols sent the letter to Robert Hicks, director for the Office of Environmental Health Services for the state Department of Health. In it, she asked that VDH revisit an April 2005 variance for the storage site issued by state health commissioner Robert Stroube.

"In light of new information about a child with serious chronic medical conditions living on adjacent land, I am asking that this decision be revisited," Nichols wrote.

Nichols said in an interview that she hasn't received a response from VDH officials to the Jan. 17 letter.
"The request is under review," VDH spokesperson Kelly Lobanov said in an e-mail Friday.

The variance, issued to Houston-based Synagro Inc., allowed the company to "utilize extended temporary (field) storage operations" on a farm off Otterville Road in Bedford County.

The variance letter, written by Stroube, stated that the "granting of this variance will not create any unwarranted health risks."

In an interview Thursday, Nichols said she spoke with the child's father and with his pediatric pulmonologist at the University of Virginia. She wrote the letter after learning the details of the child's situation, she said.

The child's family declined comment and asked not to be identified.

Nichols also addressed potential medical concerns related to the proximity of the storage site in her letter.
"Everyone who works with this issue of application of biosolids to land would agree that we have a lot to learn about the potential health effects, especially the interaction of any component of biosolids material and chronic diseases," Nichols wrote.

"Until we have a fuller understanding of these issues, it seems reasonable to exercise an abundance of caution when serious health issues in the community are brought to our attention."
The only power Nichols said she has relating to health concerns with biosolids application or storage is to make certain recommendations to state-level officials.

"I can make recommendations that buffer distances be increased based on certain health conditions," Nichols said. "Respiratory ones like this child's significant issues are one of them."

The Otterville Road site has been operating since late 2005. Bedford residents have been concerned about another proposed storage site near Moneta.

Legislation giving localities the power to prohibit storage sites has been passed by both the state House and Senate and is awaiting Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's signature.

Nichols said she has been frequently contacted by concerned citizens in Bedford and Campbell counties regarding biosolids issues.

Sometimes she requests that a buffer zone be increased, but, she said, "I can't ask that they remove the whole field."

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Shireen Parsons
Christiansburg, Virginia
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