Scientist Warns Against
Use Of Sludge On FarmsBy DAN TREVAS
Dix Capital Bureau
COLUMBUS
S
ewer sludge applied to farmland may not only smell bad, but may also be hazardous to human health, a Texas scientist told state lawmakers.Samuel Shepherd, an Ohio native and instructor of regulatory compliance and hazardous materials transportation in Houston, told the House Energy and Environment Committee Thursday that recent scientific findings including his own work have revealed a number of infectious substances posing risks to human health in land-applied sludge.
Shepherd, the owner of two technology-based companies including one that rids sludge of hazardous substances, called for state regulations eliminating the hazardous components of sludge before the material can be used as fertilizer.
The committee is debating House Bill 197, sponsored by state Rep. Gene Krebs, R-Camden. The bill gives the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency sole authority to regulate the application of sewer sludge on land and take action against those allowing the stench of improperly spread sludge to annoy neighboring residents.
Complaints of sewer sludge smell is on the rise because of two factors. Sludge, mostly generated by municipal sewage plants, used to be disposed of in landfills or incinerated, but is being used more as an agricultural fertilizer to save room in landfills for garbage. Second, urban sprawl has more families moving into rural suburbs neighboring farmlands.
Ohio sludge producers need a permit to operate from the Ohio EPA, but the federal EPA has the authority now to enforce and administer the rules for disposing of sludge. Local health departments also have the ability to place local rules on sludge use.
The federal law that Ohio wants to administer provides minimum standards for the application of sludge and states are allowed to implement stricter standards. The law allows the application of "Class B" sludge, which contains pathogens (disease-causing organisms), metals and volatile components that cause odors.
Sludge through additional processing can be developed into "Class A" material, which rids the application of the pathogens, metals and odor-causing byproducts.
While working on a process to recover ammonia, one of the odor-causing elements, from animal and human waste to use as fertilizer, Shepherd found a way to eliminate more than 20 different pathogens he found in municipal sewage sludge.
Because of his work in the field, Shepherd's former principal at Union Local High School in Belmont County called him to help them address a local odor problem emanating from sludge applied on local farmland.
Shepherd testified that not only does the sludge smell, but trimethylamine (TMA), another odor-causing chemical that naturally occurs in human waste, is also a health hazard.
When asked by lawmakers whether he was supporting the tighter requirements on sludge to advance his own business interests, Shepherd said he hoped sewage treatment plants would use his services, but said a number of companies transform Class B sludge to Class A sludge. He said the bill could help his business, but would also protect public health.
Committee chairman William Schuck, R-Columbus, said he will likely call for the committee to vote on the bill when it meets again in two weeks.
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This page last updated 1300 Friday, April 16, 1999