Sludge Watch ==> Maryland- Buoyed with success, Anti-Sludge-in-Parks group expands

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

It is getting harder and harder to find 'real' farmers who are willing to 
take sludge on their own lands.
They don't like the smell and headaches. They don't want the health risk. 
They don't want to compromise the value of the farm on resale. They don't 
want to risk not being able to obtain farm credit (now or in future). They 
don't like the lack of indemnification from generators and spreaders.

The trend is to provide sludge to 'custom farmers' ... farmers who lease 
land from absentee land owners...some of whom are not told that their fields 
are taking industrial and municipal sludges.

Some farmers get paid to take sludge, either direct payments, or through 
'land leases', or by getting their taxes paid.  Some farmers in Ontario, at 
least, are being paid not to grow a crop so that their fields can be sludged 
on short notice.

In Kern County the sludge is going to fields owned by the City of Los 
Angeles (so called Green Acres farm) or on other dedicated sludge farms.

When we see sludge on playgrounds and public parks it is because farmers 
have already voted with their feet...they don't want sludge.

..................................................




http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ha.sludge02sep02,0,7152880.story


Sludge fighters look to expand
Success in halting spreading at park in Harford leads to vow to end practice

By Mary Gail Hare | Sun reporter
September 2, 2007

  Buoyed by their recent success at ending the spreading of sludge in 
Susquehanna State Park in Havre de Grace, opponents vow to seek an end to 
the practice on parkland across Maryland.

The permit request for acreage just inside the park gate was withdrawn Aug. 
24 and will not be renewed, according to the applicant.

"We are in this for the long haul," said Diane Rogers of Quaker Bottom Road, 
who lives a few hundred yards from the park entrance. "I want to see our 
parks stay public and not have fields shut down."


Her neighbor, Jeff Lawson, organized the opposition and lobbied state and 
county officials against the practice of applying sludge from Harford's Sod 
Run Wastewater Treatment Plant to farmland at the park.

"It would be ignorant to take care of something in our own backyard and then 
forget about it in parks across the state," Lawson said.

The treated sewage sludge was spread only once - this summer - at 
Susquehanna State Park, but preparation of the site took a while. Neighbors 
said they disliked the truck traffic, smell and noise.

Synagro Technologies Inc., a Dallas-based contractor, has permits to spread 
treated sludge, a nutrient-rich fertilizer, also known as a biosolid, on 
more than 900 farms across the state, as well as several public parks. In 
Harford, the company recently had obtained permits from the Maryland 
Department of the Environment to spread sludge in Susquehanna, Rocks and 
Palmer state parks.

Synagro began an operation on a farm field just inside the gate at 
Susquehanna State Park in June. Neighbors complained about the truck 
traffic, the noise and the smell. Since then, the company has abandoned 
plans for a second parcel in the park. Synagro is not applying sludge in 
Rocks and Palmer parks at this time.

"They did it in June, and it still stinks today," Rogers said.

Applying sludge as fertilizer on fields is a common practice. Farmers value 
the material because of its nutrient content and because it improves 
aeration and reduces erosion. But the use of sludge comes with restrictions. 
People cannot walk on the treated fields for a year. Cattle cannot graze for 
30 days after an application, and three years must pass before crops that 
people consume raw, such as carrots or celery, can be planted.

"Allowing sludge in parks goes against everything DNR stands for," Rogers 
said. "They tell us this product is safe, but you can't walk on it, and 
animals can't graze on it. What about wildlife?"

Opponents have won official support. Del. Barry Glassman, a Republican who 
represents the area, said he will ask the General Assembly to start a task 
force that would look at leases between the Department of Natural Resources 
and sludge haulers. The same panel will inventory state parks that permit 
sludge applications.

"There could be a recommendation to change or discontinue the practice," 
Glassman said.

Government officials in many jurisdictions view the practice as a useful way 
to dispose of sludge that otherwise would be buried in landfills, 
incinerated or trucked elsewhere.

Harford County pays Synagro $34 a ton to haul sludge from its plant in 
Perryman, which creates about 20,000 tons of the material annually, to 
anywhere the hauler has a permit. Within the county, 98 percent of the 
sludge has gone to farmers for the past 30 years, said Wayne Ludwig, county 
operations chief for water and sewer.

"There are hundreds of farm acres in Harford where there are permits for 
sludge," Ludwig said. "We have more acreage now than material. If we only 
had state parkland, we would be in a pinch, but that is not the case."

The DNR manages more than 450,000 acres statewide and commonly leases 
underused parcels as farmland. The agency entered into an unusual 
arrangement and leased the land at Susquehanna State Park directly to 
Synagro.

"It was unusual but certainly not unlawful," said Arnold Norden, a DNR 
planner. "The process was normal. No corners were cut."

The permit signatory is Jason Krankowski, a Synagro employee who said he 
planned to farm the acreage.

Sludge was spread on one field, but Krankowski, director of technical 
services for the company, withdrew the request for the second field, noting 
complaints by residents.

Glassman said he intends to propose a second bill that bans leasing state 
land to a hauler.

If the practice is banned at state parks, counties may have to resort to 
costlier methods for disposing of sludge, Norden said.

The DNR adds an intensive review to the permitting process when public lands 
are involved. The agency has denied permits for land used by hunters and 
land that is close to popular trails, Norden said.

"All the ag land we lease is considered productive and well-managed," he 
said.



mary.gail.hare at baltsun.com

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