From: Ned Beecher, NEBRA [ned.beecher@nebiosolids.org] Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 12:45 PM To: NEBRA Subject: NEBRAMail NEBRAMail “essential news only...” November 25, 2008 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING! ------------- * This occasional email newsletter from NEBRA is provided as a service to members and contacts. * Feel free to forward in entirety to interested parties. * To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send a "reply to" email stating your request. If your address changes, please let us know. * Essential past NEBRA news articles are available at http://www.nebiosolids.org/index.php?page=news. ------------- Contents * New NEBRA Website * NH Legislative Study Commission Final Report * News From the 2008 North East Conference * NEBRA’s Annual Meeting * News From the 2008 MABA Annual Conference * Book Review: The Big Necessity by Rose George * Virginia Continues to Revamp Its Biosolids Management Regulatory Structure * Announcing the 5th Canadian Residuals and Biosolids Conference – September 2009 *In Brief / En Bref... biosolids management prices, “smart guide” to “sludge,” Ontario conflicted, Australasian Biosolids Partnership ---------- WELCOME new NEBRA Members: Praxair, Inc. (contact Stéphane Anglade) and Steve Wold ---------- New NEBRA Website 1998 seems like a long time ago. That was NEBRA’s first full year and the year of its first website... In January of 1998, New England and Québec were hit by an amazing ice storm, causing extensive tree damage and power outages for weeks. The Winter Olympics were in Nagano that February. In March, Viagra was first approved by the FDA. In June, the Chicago Bulls won their 6th NBA title in 8 years, and Michael Jordan played his last game for them. Microsoft released Windows ‘98. The summer and fall news was of President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. In August, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that Québec cannot secede without approval of the federal government. Swiss Air Flight 111 crashed near Halifax, and the people of the region were hailed for their support and caring of friends and families of the deceased. The Yankees won the World Series, with a record 125 total wins during the year. In November, Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota. In December, Exxon bought Mobil for US$73.7 billion. Now, in 2008, NEBRA has a new, updated website. It is clearer, larger, more photogenic (you know what I mean), and easier to manage. And it cost less than half as much as the original. Right now, the new website is still in development, with only basic pages visible, such as the archive of past news stories – including a recent fine piece by Brad Moore of Bangor about their successful open house in October. In the next few weeks, the new website will grow as large as its predecessor and have much of the same information, as well as the latest on biosolids and residuals recycling in New England and eastern Canada. Check it out. The NEBRA website is your resource. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. ---------- NH Legislative Study Commission Final Report In 2007, the New Hampshire legislature passed House Bill 699, which created another study commission, this one directed to study “methods and costs of sewage, sludge, and septage disposal.” Rep. Deborah Wheeler chaired the commission. Members included Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, Rep. Scott Merrick, Patricia Hannon and Thomas Seigle of NH DES, and staff of the Thompson School at UNH, UNH Cooperative Extension, NH Dept. of Health and Human Services, NH Office of Energy and Planning, and the NH Dept. of Agriculture. The commission held about ten meetings from August 2007 through September 2008. Considerable focus was put on sludge and biosolids management, driven in part by regular attendance by Caroline Snyder of Citizens for Sludge-Free Land and/or that organization’s lobbyist. However, there were also presentations and discussions regarding current infrastructure needs, bioreactor landfills, septage management, and energy. NEBRA’s interests were well represented by Shelagh Connelly, and Ned Beecher attended a couple of meetings. The commission handed in its final report on November 1st (contact the NEBRA office for an electronic copy). It confirms the acceptability of current practices. The report concludes: “Based on all the testimony and data gathered, it is clear that the disposal of sewage, sludge and septage is an important issue in New Hampshire. Current practices are adequate for the protection of human health, safety and the environment, but there is a deficit of septage disposal capacity in the state that does not currently address today’s disposal needs. Insuring adequate septage disposal capacity for future needs is critical to environmental protection of the state’s water resources.... It is important to insure that current disposal practices are adequately monitored and controlled. Because sewage, sludge and septage can contain pathogens, they can pose a threat to human health and the environment if they are not handled properly. New technologies or innovations to current technologies must be encouraged but considered on a case by case basis, with careful study of technical, environmental, public health and economic criteria.” The report recommends continued funding for the State Aid Grant program (which was just cut back last Friday due to state budget woes), as well as the special funding for septage management projects. For that program, the report recommends consideration of allowing some of the funds to be used in public/private partnerships, to further stimulate innovative septage management strategies. “NH should continue to evaluate emerging technologies and work with both the public and private sector to provide sufficient and safe disposal for sludge and septage.... The definition of “Biosolids” was adopted into state statute in 2000 and into DES administrative rules in 2007. The definition is appropriate and no changes are recommended....It is appropriate to investigate organic wastes as a potential source of energy.” In an appendix about “sewage sludge disposal,” Dr. Malley, Chairman of the Environmental Engineering Program at UNH, presents a seasoned perspective he has developed since 1980, when he was “involved in some of the initial composting and land application work on sludges at Rutgers University.” Regarding the available options, he notes “All solutions used or proposed to date have pros and cons. The solutions that have stood the test of time have been those that are robust, practical and cost effective... and... have done so in part from the fact that the overall benefits have out weighed the perceived risks based upon empirical observations.... There are always opportunities for innovative solutions and many have and will continue to be invented. Many of these innovative solutions have not become widely used because they have not been able to scale- up to meet the quantities of sludge generated or they have been far too costly or the promise of the resulting product has not met expectations....” He identifies composting, anaerobic digestion (with energy recovery), aerobic digestion, waste- to-energy combustion of dewatered sludge, and lime stabilization – all followed by land application or landfill disposal – as the “tried and true,” “effectively employed” processes for sludge management. He encourages “a three part approach:” pollution prevention and sludge minimization, site specific and detailed engineering evaluation of sludge treatment and disposal/use alternatives, and proper control and monitoring to ensure compliance with “all applicable rules and regulations.” One possible legislative action that may come out of this study commission effort is to include biosolids as a renewable energy source in the renewable energy portfolio standards. Another NH study commission completed a report on fats, oil, and grease (FOG) management in NH; their report is at http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wweb/documents/fog_report.pdf. ---------- News From the 2008 North East Conference More than a hundred people attended the North East Residuals and Biosolids Conference in Nashua on November 12 and 13. Mario LeClerc led a well-received tour of the Nashua biosolids management program. Then, after lunch, biosolids program staff from 5 states and 3 provinces and U. S. EPA Region 1 provided updates on developments in their jurisdictions – a first ever international event! Many thanks to all of the participants, some of whom traveled from quite a distance. The audience was thrilled to have comparisons between the states and provinces. The North East here is one small region with a great variety of biosolids management regulations. When asked, the panel pretty much agreed that vocal public concerns and conflict have diminished in the last several years. For the next day and a half, the conference looked at a variety of beneficial use programs, emerging technologies, septage and FOG management, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. Did you know... research has demonstrated great promise for wood ash use in potato farming in Maine? Seabrook, NH has reduced its wastewater solids production by up to 80% using a new technology? Grease trap waste is being made into biodiesel in Philadelphia? FOG is increasing digester gas and electricity production at Essex Junction, VT? Pittsfield, MA is moving toward producing combined heat and power (CHP) from its digester gas? These and more were discussed. Copies of this conference’s presentations will be available for download from the NEWEA website in the near future (this is instead of all conference attendees receiving CDs of the proceedings by mail). ---------- NEBRA’s Annual Meeting NEBRA held is Annual Meeting at the conference on Wednesday, the 12th. The Board and chairs of Committees provided updates on the considerable progress made during the past year, including balancing the budget and ending the year in the black, bringing in new members, producing the “Celebrate Clean Water” tours and open houses, and completing several contracted projects. The Board demonstrated how much has been accomplished, in large part thanks to the leadership of President James Myers, and the mood was optimistic looking into the future. Board members Andrew Carpenter, Ginny Grace, and Mark Young were re-elected to three year terms. The Board Officers elected for the next year remain the same as last year: James Myers, President; Peter Coleman, Vice President; Jamie Ecker, Treasurer; Jeff Pinnette, Vice Treasurer; Alwynne Hellfach, Secretary. The membership expressed appreciation for the service the Board and officers provide to this organization! ---------- News From the 2008 MABA Annual Conference On November 19th and 20th, the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association held its Annual Meeting and Conference. Superb presentations greeted attendees at the Spectrum Theater in Arlington, VA. There were several about MABA’s leading research on understanding odors from biosolids management; for example, Robin Brandt of Penn State has studied the ups and downs of odorants in Philadelphia biosolids stored for different periods of time. Matt Higgins of Bucknell provided a clear and concise summary of the current state of knowledge regarding reactivation (“sudden increase”) and regrowth of indicator bacteria after anaerobic digestion and centrifugation. His latest research clearly demonstrates that pathogens, especially Salmonella, do not show the same reactivation as the fecal coliforms do. Greg Evanylo of Virginia Tech showed that, in a worst-case scenario of trenching biosolids in coarse-textured soils, high levels of nitrate leaching is likely, but metals leaching was not considered a significant concern. John Novak’s research (Virginia Tech) into a three stage anaerobic-aerobic- anaerobic solids treatment process shows significant benefits, including volatile solids destruction reaching 70% and reduction of trace chemicals such as those found in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). ---------- Book Review: The Big Necessity by Rose George This book is worth reading. Its focus is toilets and the need for more attention to sanitation in developing countries. Its author, Rose George, is a journalist who has worked at The Nation, COLORS, and Condé Nast Traveler and, as a freelance writer, has been published in The Guardian and other periodicals. The book’s title, The Big Necessity, comes from how one person she met refers to a place to defecate. Rose traveled the world to learn about such places in diverse countries. She describes Japanese toilets that precisely clean your backside as you finish, her impressions of going into London and New York sewers, and the fact that 2.6 billion of the world’s people have no access to adequate sanitation, which causes widespread sickness and death. One chapter is titled “The Battle of Biosolids: Bad Smell, Big Tomatoes.” George is clearly a skeptic regarding biosolids use, and shows some lack of knowledge, even as she clearly describes the conflicts: “When sewage is cleaned and treated, the dirt that is collected and removed is called sludge, except in the United States, where it’s called biosolids by some people and poison by others.” In this chapter, as in the rest of the book, she did her homework. She describes her visits to the Alexandria wastewater treatment facility and the DC Water and Sewer Authority’s Blue Plains facility. She notes the professionalism and pride of those managing biosolids. She sympathetically describes the difficulties presented by odors. But she spends far more time and sympathy on the arguments of concerned citizen Nancy Holt in North Carolina regarding health concerns. Her skepticism is at a maximum when she describes the process by which the term “biosolids” was coined. She quotes Ellen Harrison of Cornell Waste Management Institute and Maureen Reilly of SludgeWatch. She ends up using innuendo and sarcasm to impune biosolids recycling to soils. Although she also talked with former EPA official Alan Rubin and spent considerable time with Chris Peot, biosolids manager at Blue Plains, she presented their arguments briefly. And while she mentions some scientists raising concerns about biosolids use, she ignores a large volume of research and scores of accessible scientists who find the practice acceptable. But it’s worth reading George’s assessment of biosolids management, because she is a pretty good journalist and her take on the topic is instructive: biosolids recycling to soils is counterintuitive, difficult to understand, and easy to be skeptical about. Interestingly, in an interview with New Hampshire Public Radio on November 12th, George said that she does not know enough about biosolids to be able to say whether or not use on soils is a reasonable practice. In the book she asks: “Are biosolids safe?” and she quotes Ellen Harrison saying “There is no such thing as ‘safe.’ Is it safe to drive your car? Nearly all that we do entails risk, so the question really is, ‘Is the risk acceptable.’” In a special to the Los Angeles Times, Anna Sklar, author of Brown Acres: An Intimate History of the Los Angeles Sewer System notes in a review of the book, that “despite her extensive research, George is on weak ground when she critiques the use of treated sewage sludge, also known as biosolids.” (Sklar’s review is available at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-book20- 2008oct20,0,2965209.story.) Another review of The Big Necessity comes from Laura Orlando of the Resource Institute for Low Entropy Systems, a critic of centralized wastewater treatment and a vocal opponent of biosolids use on soils in the U. S.: “George is an unapologetic fan of sewers. She calls them ‘unassailable as the default option of how to dispose of human excreta in sophisticated, wealthy places.’ This is a mistake. Sewers look good on World Bank loan portfolios and the income statements of the companies that build them. But from the point of view of long- term, sustainable public and environmental health, they are a disaster.... It is true that deaths from typhoid and cholera — the great waterborne killers of the 19th centuries’ open sewers — were greatly reduced with the combined use of closed pipe sewers and drinking water treatment. But a greater and more complex group of killers is now in the sewage or result from sewage treatment itself. And this is a threat that George gives short shift.” Orlando is wrong. Her suggestion that somehow modern “sewage or result from sewage treatment itself” is a greater killer than open sewers and lack of sanitation is absurd and flies in the face of abundant evidence. In contrast to such diatribes, George’s work is a piece of thoughtful journalism that includes a lot of good, well-documented evidence. Rose George’s voice is a moderate one, and The Big Necessity is right that sanitation “matters.” Fortunately, George and her book are garnering considerable attention, which the topic deserves. ---------- Virginia Continues to Revamp Its Biosolids Management Regulatory Structure According to Neil Zahradka of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) speaking at the annual MABA conference last week, significant actions have been taken over the last year to help restore confidence in biosolids management oversight and enforcement in Virginia. Legislation last year transferred primary responsibility for the biosolids regulatory program from the VA Department of Health to DEQ. Additional funding has resulted in more than 1,000 inspections of biosolids programs and six letters of warning – far more oversight than was possible with just three inspectors in the former VDH program. Work on Virginia’s regulatory structure is continuing, with evaluation being conducted by an expert panel of diverse stakeholders. According to Zahradka and conference attendees familiar with the panel’s work, the panel has reached consensus on several topics, and this will be expressed in the panel’s final report, which is due to the legislature in the next several weeks. (See http://www.deq.state.va.us/info/biosolidspanel.html.) A separate Technical Advisory Committee and DEQ staff will take the panel’s findings and craft the details of regulatory or legislative changes to the state’s biosolids program. New draft regulations are not expected until 2010. ---------- Announcing the 5th Canadian Residuals and Biosolids Conference – September 2009 The 5th Canadian Residuals and Biosolids Conference will be held on September 13 – 15, 2009 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. According to an invitation for the conference, “the world of Residuals and Biosolids management is changing due to higher energy and fertilizer costs, and increased awareness of climate change. The goal of this conference is to move us beyond our current management practices and towards an integrated approach to the management of sewage biosolids and residuals....” See http://www.weao.org/ for the call for abstracts and other details. ---------- In Brief / En Bref... A glimpse of biosolids management prices in New England was provided this past summer by bids received at the Billerica, MA wastewater treatment facility. Three bids for hauling Billerica sludge to a landfill or incinerator were priced from $77.75 to almost $83 per wet ton. A beneficial use option was priced at more than $96 per wet ton. Institute Publishes “Smart Guide on Sludge Use and Food Production” In mid-October, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (http://www.iatp.org) published a “fact sheet” on sludge use and food production. IATP was created in the 1980s to help U. S. farmers address international policies that affect U. S. farms. The “Smart Guide” espouses avoidance of use of sewage sludge and foods grown with it, citing, for example, the Cornell Waste Management Institute. It does not include reference to or information from the abundant published, peer-reviewed literature that includes two National Academy of Sciences reviews of biosolids use on soils that found the practice acceptable. In a phone conversation, the IATP author indicated that she was not aware of the 1996 National Academy study that looked specifically at use of biosolids and reclaimed water for growing food crops and found they present “negligible” risk. Unfortunately, the author and IATP are not interested in reworking the document to improve its accuracy; “I’m just glad to have that project done finally,” she said. Ontario continues to see conflict about biosolids use on soils. In October, a group held a press conference calling for a moratorium on the practice. In a Sun Media article by Jonathan Jenkins, Maureen Reilly of SludgeWatch is quoted as saying “The waste industry should not be getting a toehold in Ontario's fertile lands,” noting that “120,000 tons of the waste is used on 15,000 hectares each year in Ontario.” The article also notes: “Kate Jordan, a spokesman for the ministry of the environment, said the government is constantly updating and reviewing the rules and the science. But she said the ministry believes the practice is safe.” The Australasian Biosolids Partnership is up and running! According to Allen Gale of Goulburn Valley Water, “we have a great program manager, Andre Speers. He has a lot to achieve in his first year, but he is just the man to carry it forward.” Meanwhile, drought continues to plague Australian farmers and “is forcing major changes in water management.” See http://www.biosolids.com.au. ---------- North East Biosolids and Residuals Association (NEBRA) P. O. Box 422 / 85 Main Street Tamworth, NH 03886 phone 603-323-7654 fax 603-323-7666 www.nebiosolids.org