Sludge Watch ==> North Carolina - Greensborogh $2M to reduce nitrogen pollution from plant

[Maureen Reilly]

City approves $2 million for sludge demo


The Greensboro City Council approved nearly $2 million on May 15 to test a 
nitrogen reduction system at TZ Osborne Wastewater Plant in anticipation of 
state regulations slated to go into effect sometime next year.

The motion passed eight to one with District 4 representative Mike Barber 
casting the only dissenting vote. The money will fund a full-scale 
demonstration of activated sludge technology at one of Greensboro's two 
wastewater treatment plants. Activated sludge is a process by which 
concentrated biological material is mixed with untreated water to reduced 
nitrogen and other pollutants.

The new regulations are intended to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous 
pollution in Jordan Lake - a water body that has been plagued by algae 
blooms and fish kills. Soon the State Division of Water Quality will start 
taking public comments on new water-quality rules for municipalities that 
discharge water into the Haw River, including Greensboro. The Piedmont Triad 
Council of Governments, the organization that has coordinated discussions 
between the state and municipalities, estimates the rules will go into 
affect in August 2008.

"We fully expect the rules will pass," said City Manager Mitchell Johnson. 
"And we want to be prepared when they do."

City officials in Greensboro and other municipalities upriver of Jordan Lake 
have long challenged the validity of models that link some pollution in the 
lake to discharge from the Triad. The New Hope River and the Haw River 
primarily feed the lake, and opponents of the new Jordan Lake rules 
attribute the vast majority of the pollution to the former tributary, which 
flows from the Triangle. Johnson compared the activated sludge system to an 
aquarium filter. He said the project would provide more surface area and 
microbes to clean the treated wastewater.

Barber questioned the urgency of spending $2 million on the project. Earlier 
in the meeting, Johnson had proposed a budget that would raise property 
taxes 4 cents per $100 valuation, a proposition Barber labeled "disgusting."

"We heard a budget tonight that there are some issues on," Barber said. 
"Today is May. We have two months of budget discussions in front of us. Why 
don't we wait sixty or ninety days before we make this decision?"

Tom Phillips, District 3 representative and the council's other reliable 
fiscal conservative, advocated going ahead with the demonstration. "The 
state is heading down a path with Jordan Lake," Phillips said. "If we wait 
sixty or ninety days we're still going to wind up doing this."

Barber pushed for postponement based on the fact that quality of life in 
Greensboro would not be affected by changes at the Osborne plant. Johnson 
agreed, but said that the city should be prepared to demonstrate to state 
officials that the activated sludge system works. Otherwise residents might 
have to pay for a more expensive nitrogen reduction system. "I would be 
completely disingenuous if I said we have to vote on this tonight," Johnson 
said. "But Mr. Phillips is absolutely correct. We have no doubt that they 
are going to establish nitrogen removal standards for Greensboro."

Barber opposed moving forward with such a large expenditure before the final 
nitrogen standards are approved.

"We don't know what the future holds," he said. "And we're not sure what the 
state's standards will be."

To comment on this story, e-mail Amy Kingsley at amy at yesweekly.com.


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