on
water, sewer, biosolids, recycling and solid waste disposal
Thursday, October 26th at 7:30pm Lake Monocan Clubhouse at Stoney Creek
Directions:
on water, sewer, biosolids, recycling and solid waste disposal Thursday, October 26th at 7:30pm Lake Monocan Clubhouse at Stoney Creek Directions: |
|
UPCOMING:
- Thursday, November 2nd - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 3:00pm Nelson
Center
- Wednesday, November 8th - PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION 7:00pm
Courthouse
- Tuesday, November 21st - BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2:00/7:30pm Courthouse
(NOTE: This is a change from the regular meeting date)
- Wednesday, November 29th - PLANNING COMMISSION 7:30pm Courthouse
(NOTE: This is a change from the regular meeting date)
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RURAL NELSON MINUTES
THURSDAY, OCT. 26TH
LAKE MONOCAN PARK
Robert McSwain opened the meeting at 7:40, allowing people a chance to
grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Robert introduced the four
participants on the panel, which was co-sponsored by Rural Nelson and
Keep Nelson Beautiful.
Tim Castillo, Executive Director of the Nelson County Service Authority,
started off. Their major customer base is Wintergreen Mountain resort,
and they also serve towns throughout the county. For many years
Lovingston did not have an adequate water supply, so sources of water
were found in the Colleen area and the water was piped to Lovingston.
The Authority is 100% services driven - tax revenue is only a small
portion of what supports them. They are trying to find surface water
sources for the future both for Wintergreen and for the predicted growth
along Rt. 151 and Rt. 29. By mandate the Authority must also do long
range (50 yr.) planning.
Tom Eick, Environmental Health Specialist with the Nelson County Health
Department, talked next. His job is to make sure sewage and water
supplies are kept separate, in particular keeping wells away from
pollution sources. His job also involves dealing with complaints, which
usually have to do with sewage.
In the 1950's environmental quality professionals basically just tracked
where people put sewage systems. The first regulations were adopted in
the 1960's. The emphasis went from a tracking system to concentration
on disposal of sewage in an environmentally sound fashion. In 1980,
fairly current regulations were adopted. They were revised in 2000.
The emphasis today is on cleaning and treating sewage. The newest trend
is to get more players besides health departments into monitoring
disposal systems. The Health Department now does licensing and training
of employees who have taken over the issuing of permits. Now health
departments concentrate more on monitoring, research, education and
planning. D.E.Q. is now able to monitor the health of streams.
John Scofield, an engineer from the state office who assists mainly the
western health departments, spoke briefly. Engineers can design sewage
systems for property that does not perk. He also works in biosolids.
His job involves finding land on which to put sludge. Much of the
sludge he deals with in western Virginia is generated in New Jersey.
Scott Haley, a biosolids specialist from the Division of Waste Water
Engineering, covers a large area from Frederick County to the Chespeake
Bay to Lunenberg. He said that the whole focus on sewage sludge started
when EPA said you could not dump it in water. It has to be treated so
that it is safe to put on land. Untreated sewage sludge cannot be put
on land. They have issued permits for 55 locations in Virginia. 50,000
acres are covered in sludge every year. Phosphorus and Nitrogen are
both of concern in sewage sludge. Basically what he does are site
reviews and inspections. He looks at the farm and the soil on it before
they grant a permit for land application of biosolids. Class A is
treated to a level that is safer to use than a Class B material.
Typically permits are granted to Class B. Compost would be a Class A
material, with a high level of pathogen reduction.
Kerri Nicholas, a lawyer working with Scott Haley in the Virginia
Department of Health, was present, and was able to answer legal
questions about permits and restrictions.
Susan McSwain was the last speaker. Wearing her first hat as a volunteer
for Keep Nelson Beautiful, she explained the emphasis that organization
places on the reuse and recycling of household products. Next she wore
her professional hat as the Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator for
Nelson County. She pointed out that there will be no clean water
without adequate garbage and solid waste disposal.
Currently, Waste Management comes to ten sites in Nelson County and
takes garbage to a transfer station on Rt. 29. They tip out the garbage
at the transfer station. From there it is loaded onto trucks and taken
down to Amelia County. There are 14,500 people in Nelson County
creating 28 million lbs. of garbage every year. Disposing of it is very
expensive.
The county is in the process of installing recycling at each garbage
site. Paper is mixed and taken to two locations. The second type of
recycling is commingled plastic, steel, glass and aluminum. This is
dumped out in a big facility onto conveyor belts. A magnet picks up the
steel to separate it out, and a blower blows aluminum into another area.
Everything that has a neck on it is either a 1 or a 2 for recycling
purposes. There is a machine that isolates 1 and 2. Glass is the last
thing left on the conveyor belt, and it is crushed and used in things
like highway surfaces. Nelson County recycling rates are one of the
lowest in the states. Virginia has some of the cheapest garbage
disposal on the eastern seaboard, as its tipping fees are very low.
Garbage comes in by truck and by boat. The prediction is that land
suitable for landfills will be used up by 2050. The recycling rate
nationwide is going down. Ships from China delivering manufactured
goods pick up our recycled cardboard for the return journey. It is
processed in China and then returned to the U.S. as boxes. There must
be an economical way to manufacture our own boxes!
Nelson County is consolidating waste disposal sites and each one will be
supervised. Anything goes at an unstaffed site. There can be serious
health problems for transfer station employees at the next stage of
recycling if toxic chemicals have been thrown into the collection bins
at unsupervised sites.
The county is also planning to be part of a regional sanitation
authority that will include Lynchburg and other jurisdictions. A larger
authority will provide a lot more opportunity to do public education and
to share the cost of initiatives to expand recycling.
During the question and answer portion, the following issues were discussed:
Most wells in the county are made of granite, which is very nearly
impermeable. The opposite is true in the Shenandoah Valley, where wells
are made of limestone, which is very permeable. Sinkholes in the valley
also are convenient spots for farmers to dump dead animals. The
sinkholes seep into wells.
The county is beginning to put fluoride in its water system. Amounts of
fluoride differ according to different soils in the state. Some areas
need no added fluoride. In order to get the funding to construct a
sewage line the service authority plans must comply with the
Comprehensive Plan.
RECOMENDATIONS:
Don't throw bacteria into your septic system. You can have your drain
field inspected. There is a small gadget that costs approx. $3,000 that
can be installed to treat drain fields. Often older systems were not
built to the quality or size of current regulations. It is a good idea
to have your septic system emptied from time to time. If you don't do
anything to your septic system you lose capacity both from the top and
the bottom. A "sludge judge" can tell you whether or not your septic
system needs emptying.
Should we have a biosolids local ordinance? Most of the counties have
ordinances that are very similar. It is helpful to have a local
inspector who can do regular inspections, not just inspections arising
from problems. In some cases regional jurisdictions will join together
to finance the employment of an inspector. And localities with
VDH-approved ordinances can apply for reimbursement of inspection
expenses. The VDH website posts online the required setbacks for
sinkholes, roads, creeks, etc. They are often asked about heavy metals
(lead, cadmium, mercury) found in sludge that is used on a farmer's
crop. The safety factor is horrendous. Much sludge has a huge
component of water in it. Drier sludge is much easier to sell
commercially and haul by train or truck. Sludge is often used in Silva
culture. Trees are good at taking in nutrients. You cannot spread
biosolids without a state license. It is a difficult issue if county
restrictions are tougher than state restrictions, as that opens the
county up to the possibility of lawsuits.
Poultry litter contains ammonia, which seeps into the ground, and can
also contain arsenic. Biosolids are preferable to poultry litter for
farmers. Renegade pharmaceuticals (such as antibiotics from nursing
homes) are also a problem as often they are unaffected by treatment.
Ozone is the typical ingredient used to break down these pharmaceuticals.
Massie's Mill and Shipman are two places where the county is working to
consolidate garbage collection. Eventually there will be four
consolidated sites. Montebello has a beautiful garbage collection site
complete with a garden.
In Nelson County you cannot throw away oil from an oil change in your
car. Oil-based paint also needs to be saved up and then taken on days
when hazardous waste is accepted. Or they can be taken to Lynchburg or
the old Ivy Dump.
Peter Agelasto spoke for the Rockfish Valley Foundation. He encouraged
those present to fill out a sheet requesting that eleven miles of the
Rockfish River be chosen as a monitoring river in 2007 by D.E.Q. It
will involve testing be done over a year at specific sites. University
professors will supply some students to do the testing but Peter needs
local volunteers also.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Buford Hitz
Secretary
Copyright 2000-2006 by Rural Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Reports
may be reprinted or excerpted with attribution.
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P. O. Box 401
Lovingston, VA 22949
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