Let Deq Handle Biosolids, Bill Says
By Mason Adams mason.adams@roanoke.com (804) 697-1584
A House subcommittee heard nearly two hours of impassioned testimony about sewer sludge Tuesday before voting to approve one set of bills and table two others.
The House Agriculture Subcommittee merged three bills to change how biosolids are regulated into Del. Kathy Byron’s House Bill 2802, which was then reported to the full House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources.
The bill would transfer responsibility of sludge regulation from the state Health Department to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
“If the Department of Health was doing its job to protect the public and ensuring the safety and health of our communities and the environment, we wouldn’t need to be here today asking for legislative remedies,” said Byron, R-Campbell County, who represents part of Bedford County. “But when it comes to regulating biosolids and fulfilling its duty protecting public health, the Health Department has failed.”
House Bill 2801, also sponsored by Byron, also would have given local governments the ability to write laws to regulate sludge. That bill was left in subcommittee, along with a measure by Del. Watkins Abbitt, I-Appomattox County, to put a moratorium on sludge application until state agencies certify that it’s safe.
The use of sludge, a byproduct of treated human and industrial waste that some farmers use for cost-effective fertilizer, has come under increased scrutiny in recent years.
“We didn’t run into the problems until we started getting it from out of state,” Abbitt said.
More than 100 people, with more spilling out the door, packed into a small room in the Patrick Henry building to express their views on the legislation.
“We can only blame you lawmakers for ignoring our outcry,” said Janice Buchholz of Prince Edward County. She has appeared before the General Assembly to speak about sludge for three years in a row. “I, for one, am sick of being sick. Ten thousand dollars later, I still have many health problems that were not there before we got sludged.”
Others worried about environmental impacts. Steve Martin of Amherst County said that farmers who apply sludge could be “turning their farms into individual Superfund sites.”
But supporters of the use of biosolids argued that recycling the material as fertilizer is safe and cost-effective.
Douglas Trumbo, a Fauquier County farmer, said that using sludge to fertilize his land “has helped my bottom line tremendously.” And when regulations are followed, he said, it’s safe.
Kevin Engel, a Hanover County farmer, likewise said he’s never had a problem with using biosolids.
Brian McGuire, a Campbell County resident, questioned the motives of those who favor legislation.
“Their only goal is to find a loophole, a regulation, a law, anything to ban biosolids,” McGuire said. “These bills are full of these loopholes.”
But Del. Clarke Hogan, R-Halifax County, said that many questions remain unanswered.
“We had a public hearing in my district a year ago when I asked the Department of Health, ‘Is this stuff safe or not?’ ” Hogan said. “The answer I got was, ‘I’m not going to answer that question.’ … My constituents expect to be treated better than that. That’s pretty sorry.”
HB 2802 will go before the full House committee a week from today. The other two bills could potentially be resurrected if committee chairman Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, asks that they be considered.
Meanwhile, the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee approved its own series of sludge bills Monday.
Those bills, which include measures to transfer sludge regulation to the DEQ and to give localities more power, will come before the full Senate this week.
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