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BOYDTON — During the regular meeting of the Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors on Monday, an ordinance approving monitoring of the land application of biosolids was approved, which allows the county more oversight of the applications, officials said.
The ordinance will allow the county to work with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to ensure the application and storage of biosolids is done according to state requirements. The county will work with the DEQ by having its own monitor. The county’s monitor will be paid for through the fees that apply when landowners submit applications for using biosolids, officials said.
Biosolids, otherwise known as sludge, are the end result after treating domestic and commercial wastewater or sewage in a wastewater treatment plant. Depending on their level of treatment and resultant pollutant content, biosolids can be used in regulated applications ranging from soil conditioning to fertilizer for food or distribution for other uses.
Fred Dilella, a DEQ water compliance manager, and Gary Wright, a DEQ water inspector, addressed the supervisors with information on how the state monitors biosolids and how they will work with the county’s monitor.
Dilella said, “We have a permitting program which outlines very clearly what treatments must occur for the biosolids to be acceptable and what levels of contaminate. Your basic black soil is what it looks like. We have requirements on buffering, for example, 200 feet from a house, 100 feet from a stream and 100 feet from a well.
“When we go out we make sure that people are abiding by the requirements of the permit. The studies have demonstrated that when applied according to the regulations it is a safe practice. Our job is to make sure that they do apply according to the regulations,” Dilella said.
Wright said, “The permit has a lot of requirements but it is a general thing. The plants up take the nutrients. Other things in the biosolids that people worry about are the heavy metals they get tested on a monthly basis. If the biosolids don’t meet the specifications it goes to the landfill instead.
“We are onsite to see what they are doing. We are trying to get to every site that does land applications to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing,” Wright said.
“I think an important part is for people having concerns that we as an agency have the staff to check all the sites,” Dilella said. “We are probably there during 85 percent of all applications. When we are not there we are checking their storage.
“We hope this will provide some comfort to the public.”
There was no public comment on the ordinance.
Neil Zahradka, manager of DEQ’s Office of Land Applications Programs, said Monday, “(Virginia) DEQ bacterial content standards limiting the amount of heavy metals present in biosolids are the same as the federal regulations.
“Biosolids are most often applied to fields where corn, wheat and soybeans are grown. Biosolids can be applied to hayfields and pastures during other times of the year as well.
“A panel of experts was convened in 2007 to respond to several questions from the Virginia General Assembly regarding environmental and health effects of biosolids land application, not just odor. The expert panel finished its work in 2008 and the DEQ maintained a website at: www.deq.virginia.gov/info/biosolidspanel.html.
“The DEQ convened a technical advisory committee to review several aspects of the biosolids regulations, in addition to considering recommendations from the expert panel mentioned above. The DEQ will consider the recommendations of the technical advisory committee as it drafts amendments to the regulations. The State Water Control Board will review, take comment, and the vote on the proposed changes,” Zahradka said.
http://www.vancnews.com/articles/2009/02/11/south_hill/news/news04.txt
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