The sludge hits the farm

‘Biosolids’ in Wayne and Pike

By SANDY LONG

PIKE AND WAYNE COUNTIES, PA — It starts out as a complex mixture of industrial and human household waste containing what’s left behind after sewage treatment plants treat wastewater. It’s cooked, treated with chemicals and used to create several grades of a product that is applied to land, offered to farmers as free or low-cost fertilizer and carted home from local retail outlets in the family car for use in backyard gardens.

Its old-fashioned name is sewage sludge, which was updated by industry professionals to the more palatable “biosolids.” And it’s being applied at 34 sites in Wayne County and two in Pike.

Everything that goes down the drain or is flushed away in American homes, from food and human waste to pharmaceuticals and household cleaning products, ends up in sewage sludge, along with industrial discharges.

We used to dump such sludge in the oceans. That practice was banned in 1989 due to its negative impacts, leaving a massive amount of material in need of inexpensive disposal solutions. Enter land application of treated sludge, a solution that addresses the needs of municipalities and the sludge industry across the nation, while generating a product marketed as a safe low-or-no-cost fertilizer to struggling farmers and used to reclaim mining sites.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the use of sludge under its 503 rule, which has increasingly come under question for its ability to protect human health. Of the complex mixture of heavy metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and pathogens present in sewage sludge, the EPA requires testing for only a small number.

Thirty years ago, EPA narrowed the scope of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to exempt sewage sludge and other industrial residuals from many hazardous and solid waste regulations, so that these materials could legally be “recycled” as fertilizer, according to Caroline Snyder, Ph.D., of Citizens for Sludge-Free Land ( www.sludgefacts.org ). Current regulations permit every business, institution and industry in the country to pour 33 pounds of hazardous waste into the nation’s sewers monthly.

The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences warned in 2002 that the 503 rule was based on outdated or nonexistent science, and that unpredictable waste mixtures and standard risk management would not protect human health.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees biosolids. According to the permits it has approved, biosolids are being supplied to sites in Wayne and Pike counties by two companies, Ned Lang Enviroventures and Pike County Environmental. A list of those sites, provided by the DEP, can be viewed at www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-10-15/biosolids.pdf .

The DEP encourages the recycling of biosolids by land application, and notes, “This recycling of biosolids provides nutrients for sustaining plant life, helps protect our water resources, reduces the load on our landfills and will provide for a successful sewage sludge program in Pennsylvania.”

While the DEP describes the odor of biosolids as musty or ammonia-like, others have likened it to rotting flesh or outdoor toilets. The flood of phone calls that came in to the Wayne Conservation District’s office following application of Class A biosolids at Chris Lantzsch’s farm in Texas Township, PA, was prompted by the intense odors generated by that application.

A growing list of companies such as Heinz, Kraft Foods, Quaker Oats, DelMonte and Haagen Dazs have established policies to neither grow food for human consumption on fields that have been sludged, nor purchase ingredients for their products from farms using sludge.

Though unproven, several deaths and other health impacts such as impaired digestion, respiratory problems like asthma, along with persistent infections including MRSA, have been linked to land application of sludge. Two of the deaths occurred in Pennsylvania.

For more information visit www.depweb.state.pa.us, using the keyword: biosolids, or contact Northeast Regional biosolids coordinator Tim Craven at 570/826-2511.

Biosolids: a DEP primer

The PA DEP describes biosolids as nutrient-rich organic materials derived from wastewater solids (from municipal treatment plants, home septic tanks and industrial discharges) that have been stabilized, meet specific processing and quality criteria and are suitable for land application. Pennsylvanians produce an estimated 2.2 million tons of wastewater solids each year, nearly a quarter of a ton per household.

According to the DEP:

• Only those biosolids that meet specific standards for pollutants, pathogens and vector attraction may be land-applied. DEP analyzes biosolids for nutrients, metals and PCBs ranging from once each month to once each year.

• Many of the trace metals found in biosolids (nickel, copper, iron, molybdenum, selenium and zinc) are micronutrients. Other metals like cadmium, mercury and lead are also commonly found in small quantities. Organic compounds from pesticides or from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) are either not detectable or present in very low concentrations.

• DEP regulations stipulate that biosolids, other than Class A, cannot be applied within 300 feet of a well or water source used for human consumption, on steep slopes or where the water table is close to the soil surface.

• During the past 20 years, DEP has permitted approximately 1,500 sites for the land application of biosolids. There are currently more than 700 active permitted sites.

• The biosolids generator must send or personally deliver a notice to each adjacent property owner at least 30 days before the first application of Type B biosolids or septage to that site. There is no notification required for Class A biosolids.

• Class A biosolids are considered landscape grade and may be sold or distributed for use on lawns and home gardens.

• Biosolids may not be applied to land if it is likely to adversely affect a Federal or Pennsylvania threatened or endangered species, or its designated critical habitat.

• Biosolids may not be applied to agricultural land, forest or a reclamation site that is within 100 feet or less of a perennial stream or within 33 feet of an intermittent stream or within 100 feet of an exceptional value wetland.