Sludge Watch ==> Alabama - injunction against Synagro could be delayed

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20071110/NEWS/711100324/1011

Injunction could be delayed


By Russ Corey

Staff Writer


COLBERT COUNTY
November 09. 2007


Russ Corey/North County Times Daily

More than a dozen railcars with black containers marked "NYC" were parked on 
a rail spur at Florence port's intermodal area.

Related
Injunction will ask company to stop processing sewage sludge (November, 7, 
07)

More guidelines sought for biosolids (October, 28, 07)

New York sewer sludge turned into fertilizer (September, 30, 07)


An injunction against Texas-based Synagro Technologies could be delayed to 
allow the implementation of guidelines designed to address problems 
associated with the company's sewage sludge treatment facility near 
Leighton.

Colbert County commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to file an injunction to 
force the company to stop processing sewage sludge that is shipped to the 
county by rail from New York City.

Commissioner Troy Woodis said the county would delay filing the injunction 
for 60 days after a meeting with attorneys representing Synagro, Deputy 
Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Ronnie Murphy and Commissioner 
Rex Burleson.

"The company will start addressing containment problems out there, the odor 
and the flies," Woodis said. "Then we'll see where we're at."

Burleson said the type of facility Synagro is operating is not the type of 
industry he'd like to see in Colbert County.

"I'm against them being here," Burleson said. "It's just not a good thing 
for Colbert County."

Synagro processes the solid material or sludge left over after the treatment 
of wastewater and produces a product referred to as biosolids.

Depending on the amount of treatment, the biosolids are then applied to farm 
or pasture land.

The only other way to dispose of the wastewater treatment byproduct is to 
bury it in a landfill or incinerate it.

Treated sludge generated by local wastewater treatment plants has been 
applied to agricultural property in the Shoals for years.

Concern began growing after Shoals residents learned that a facility near 
Leighton was receiving and treating large amounts of sludge brought to 
northwest Alabama from outside the state.

The material is being brought into the Shoals on container type rail cars to 
the Florence port.

On Thursday, more than a dozen railcars with black containers marked "NYC" 
and "EPIC" were parked on a rail spur at the port's intermodal area.

EPIC is an acronym for Environmental Protection and Improvement Company, a 
subsidiary of Synagro Technologies Inc., a company spokeswoman said.

Some of the railcar frames were empty while others held up to two tightly 
covered containers.

Port manager Jim Loew said the containers remain at the port until they're 
loaded onto a truck trailer and taken to Synagro's processing facility.

"The material is not handled at all in the port area," Loew said. "The empty 
containers come back and are put back on the railcar and it leaves the port. 
There is no handling of the material outside the container taking place in 
the port at all."

The arrival of the Synagro facility to Crockett Lane has caused eastern 
Colbert County residents to air concerns about foul odors, an abundance of 
flies and the effects biosolid applications might have to groundwater.

Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Ron Sparks said his 
office is proposing a set of guidelines that they hope will ease the minds 
of residents and the Colbert County Commission.

The guidelines, which are still being hammered out, include efforts to 
reduce odors and flies.

They also want to establish set distances between biosolid applications and 
places like churches, schools, occupied dwellings, steams, ponds and 
springs, Sparks said.

Murphy has proposed conducting a third-party analysis of the material that's 
being shipped into Florence and Colbert County.

"What I proposed is that we establish a baseline of what is in this 
material," Murphy said.

He suggested that an outside laboratory perform the testing rather than 
Synagro Technologies or the state.

One issue, however, is that one laboratory might not be able to perform the 
analysis. He said the material contains nutrients, pathogens and heavy 
metals, which would require separate analysis.

"Not all labs can do all those," Murphy said.

Murphy said states were given the option by the Environmental Protection 
Agency to regulate biosolids.

Based on the cost to manage a regulation program, Murphy said Alabama 
decided to opt out of establishing regulations.

In addition to companies like Synagro, Alabama has more than 70 municipal 
wastewater treatment facilities, all of which create wastewater sludge that 
must be disposed.

While the state has little power to regulate biosolids past what the EPA 
requires, Murphy said Synagro is working with the state to comply with the 
proposed guidelines.

"We've got an agreement with the company and us on the guidelines," Murphy 
said.

Synagro Vice President Alvin Thomas has stated that the company is committee 
to following the guidelines established by the Department of Agriculture and 
Industries.

"We will comply with all guidelines regarding material application and will 
continue to explore options for additional odor control," Thomas said. "We 
feel that the guidelines are reasonable and meet the needs of all groups 
involved."

"Our goal is to continue to provide the high-quality, cost-effective 
benefits of biosolids recycling for the communities of Alabama," he said.