Sewage Sludge hearing set for Campbell County on Tuesday 3/16/2010

I posted on this a while back and there has been little movement until recently. This issue is of significant importance because if the science is not done objectively and the treated sewage sludge is not applied correctly, it can contaminate drinking water. The following is from Lorraine Potter, who is part of a local group following the process relating to the DEQ and Nutri-Blend's application to spread treated Sewage Sludge:

If you own land in Campbell County it's important that you attend the Mar 16 Biosolids public hearing at Rustburg High School. Over 55,000 tons are proposed to be spread on over 3000 acres, much of it surrounding Rustburg and 1/2 mile from our schools. Come and make sure your land has not been inadvertently included in this permit. So far County citizens and employees have found 14 properties that were mistakenly included in this permit when the actual landowner had not given permission to have sludge applied to his property. DEQ has admitted that they do not verify the accuracy of information received in a permit application yet this is what is used to draft the permit.

The permit hearing will begin at 7 PM. If you wish to speak come and sign up. Written comments will be accepted by DEQ through March 31, 2010.From 6:15 - 6:45 materials will be available showing which properties are proposed for sludging.
Ed Foster's letter from 3/14/10

Please contact Lorraine Potter at 821-2949 if you have any questions. Also please visit their website at http://www.campbellcountysludge.org/ to learn more about Sewage Sludge.

Campbell County Sewage Sludge public comments and questions due by July 13th

There was good attendance by local Campbell County residence, with around 50 at the June 11th meeting held at Rustburg High School. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Soil Science and Waste Management experts from Virginia Tech, and representatives from Nutri-Blend, Inc. were on hand to answer questions. They answered a lot of questions and addressed many of the concerns, but there are still questions that need to be answered.

I contacted a close friend of mine who sold chemicals to Sewage Treatment facilities on the east coast and in the Southeast for seven or eight years. He is now a High School Chemistry teacher, so I trust what he says. Here are some of the questions he suggested to me that people need to be asking. Some of these were asked and answered at the June 11th meeting, so my apologies for listing some of the same questions that have been asked:

• Where is the waste coming from and is it from industrial or residential sources?


• How is the sewage being treated, is it a digested (typically an anaerobic process) or an aerobic waste?


• Is the sewage biologically active when being spread? Is the sludge (sewage) being tested for heavy metals and for harmful pathogens (bacterial and protist)?


• How much phosphorus and nitrogen does the sludge contain, is there concern about run-off or contamination of water ways or ground water pollution?


• How close are these farms to communities and new neighborhoods? Are these communities using ground water or county water sources? Will there be ground water monitoring at these farms or communities?


• What are the rules (DEQ) when it comes to land application of sewage? How often? How much? In rain? After rain? When do the farms have to be tilled and how often? If the farmer plants crops is there an issue with food/feed crop contamination?
  

The concerns around the use of treated sewage sludge have been around for quite a while. I came across this 1999 article out of the Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, Georgia and their fight against spreading of sludge as fertilizer.

Here is the link to the Nutri-Blend Biosolids Land Application and the Public Notice – Environmental Permit Application from the Campbell County Government web site. The PDF of the Land Application lists the locations where Nutri Blend has applied to spread the sludge. The Public Notice PDF has the information at the bottom for how people can submit comments or questions. ALL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS MUST BE IN BY JULY 13, 2009.

CONTACT FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS, DOCUMENT REQUESTS AND ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION: Kevin A. Crider; DEQ – Blue Ridge Regional Office, 7705 Timberlake Road,
Lynchburg, VA 24502; Phone: (434) 582-5120; E-mail: Kevin.Crider@deq.virginia.gov; Fax: (434) 582-5125

Picture by: http://chronicle.augusta.com/images/headlines/013099/sludge_truck.jpg

Biosolid Public Meeting today in Campbell County

Today from 5 to 7 pm in the gym of Rustburg High School, the Department of Environmental Quality will be holding a public meeting to discuss and answer question about the application from Nutri-Blend, Inc. to spread treated sewage sludge in 163 fields across Campbell County.

There is also a public comment period from June 12th to July 13th. Click here for the public notice.

In other News: Sewage Sludge Hearing in Campbell County this Thursday!!!

Many thanks to Ed Foster from Lynchburg for his Letter-to-the-Editor in Today’s News Advance about the Department of Environmental Equality public information meeting at Rustburg High School this Thursday, June 11th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. I posted on this issues in May. While this is a meeting in Campbell County, this process of applying for permits to spread/distribute Sewage Sludge is happening across Virginia. The science needs to be done to determine if it is safe to spread. This is a water quality and public health issues. Anyone in the Lynchburg area and Campbell County that is concerned about this, should attend the meeting.

Sludge hearing

If you live in Campbell County, biosolids may be coming to a field near you. The state Department of Environmental Quality has received a permit application from NutriBlend for spreading biosolids on 163 fields throughout the county. The DEQ will be holding a public informational meeting at Rustburg High School on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. I urge all interested citizens to attend, ask questions and give public comments. DEQ employees say they want the public to be more involved in the process and to have more input in when and where biosolids will be spread. Let’s find out if this is true.

ED FOSTER
Lynchburg

Sewage Sludge: Yesterday’s Meals from NY/NJ Coming to Campbell County?

Treated sewage sludge as fertilizer? Well, if farmers and gardeners use cow and chicken manure then why not use human treated bio-solid waste as fertilizer? This was the general premise behind the formation of a Virginia General Assembly legislative panel to study and determine if treated sewage sludge was safe for use as fertilizer on farms. According to today’s Editorial in the Lynchburg News Advance, this was the intent but again it seems the General Assembly, in their infinite wisdom, didn’t provide enough funding for the study to answer questions about potential affects to water quality, the food chain, and potential human health problems.

Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, the Budget and Tax Hawks in the General Assembly have a “I should’ve had a V8” moment and fund a comprehensive study and it determines that human bio-solid waste is OK to use as fertilizer, then why do we need to import the remains of someone’s dinner? There are plenty of septic tanks in rural Virginia. Why couldn’t we just recycle our own “natural resources” to make our gardens grow?

Years ago when I was growing up in Southside Hampton Roads, the news covered a barge carrying trash from New York and New Jersey, sailing up and down the East Coast. They were trying to find a place that would take it. Virginia was one of those places they thought would take it. I don’t remember if Virginia did take it, but someone did. The prospect of another Garbage Barge coming from New York and New Jersey, this time in liquid form, and dumping it on Virginia when we don’t even know if it is safe to do is disconcerting. Residence of Campbell County should attend the June 11th DEQ public information meeting about the permit request. Until a comprehensive study is fully funded and completed to determine if treated sewage sludge is safe to use as fertilizer, not one drop should touch Virginia Soil.

Photo by: http://www.flicker.com/photo/brownpau