[Durham INC] Fw: [Sludge] Orange County rejects BIOSOLIDS educational forum

[Melissa Rooney]

FYI --
Good news that one Triange jurisdicition appears to be acting on the side of caution wrt sludge applications (touch wood).
-Melissa (Rooney)







County rejects sludge forum 
Officials want all sides heard 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/51656.html
 
BY MARK SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
CHAPEL HILL - The Orange County commissioners rejected a proposed forum on sewage sludge this fall, concerned that too few parties were organizing it. 
"The forum did not include all the parties on the planning committee," Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier said. "We want to include people who are pro-biosolids and people who are against." 
Biosolids are left over from the sewage treatment process. The dark sludge is treated and applied on fields as free fertilizer. But some people who live near application fields say the waste product has made them sick. 
The Orange County Health Department had proposed taking money for a study that never happened and holding a two-day forum. The forum would have included a trip to a field where the Orange Water and Sewer Authority applies biosolids. 
Commissioners rejected the forum 6-1, with Commissioner Steve Yuhasz casting the dissent. 
Health Director Rosemary Summers said the forum was going to be a neutral presentation featuring state regulators and scientists. 
But Commissioner Bary Jacobs said the Board of Commissioners and county's Commission for the Environment should have been included in planning the forum. The county board has asked the commission to look into biosolids safety concerns, and the panel has met with people on all sides of the issue. 
"It seemed weighted to people or advocates who think it's safe," Jacobs said Friday. "If we're not going to do research we at least ought to have a more robust debate." 
Instead of holding the forum, the commissioners decided to devote a meeting to biosolids this fall and consider appointing a multi-disciplinary task force to study the issue. 
Pelissier, a former chair of the Orange-Chatham Sierra Club, said she would still like to see a biosolids study done, possibly with other counties since biosolid use is a regional issue. Most of the sludge deposited in Orange County comes from outside the county, she said. 
"Before we knew lead was toxic there was lead in paint," she said. "Nobody thought about it. With the biosolids there's so much uncertainty, and we want to err on the side of caution." 
Jacobs said he's not trying to keep farmers from using biosolids but would like the county to have more control over where and what kind of biosolids are applied. 
"We've been trying to figure out who actually has the authority," he said. "We know we don't." 
mark.schultz at nando.com or 932-2003
 
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