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NoHh Carolina Pubitc Health To: Laura Blackmon, County Manager
From: Rosemary Stmllners, Health Director
Date: March 10, 2008
ORANGE COUNTY
HEALTH DEPARTMENT Re: Biosolids Program in Orange County
CC: David Stancil, Environment & Resource Conservation Director
Rosemary ~. Summers, Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager
MPH, DrPH Willie Best, Assistant County Manager
Health Director Tom Konsler, Environmental Health Services Director
Richard E. Whiffed Human Board of Health
Services Center
300 West Tryon Street
Post Office Box 8181
Hillsborough, Nc 27278
In response to questions that may arise from some of the public comment at the
Phone: (919) 245-2411 BOCC meeting last night, I thought it might be helpful to outline the level of
Fax: (919) 644-3007 county involvement in the application of biosolids in Orange County.
www. co.orange.nc, us/hea/th
Biosolids are the digested and treated solids that result from the wastewater
o sewage treatment plant process. This byproduct contains a significant amount of
nutrients that are beneficial to plants and are commonly land-applied to
agricultural fields as a useable resource. There are regulations and a permitting
Central Administrative process that govern this practice due to the potential for adverse environmental or
services public health effects if it were otherwise unregulated. There are two classes of
biosolids, Class "A" and Class "B". All of the utilities in this area produce Class
Dental Health Services B biosolids. Some, such as OWASA are considering a higher level of treatment to
meet Class A standards. This would reduce some of the regulatory requirements,
pose a lower risk to the environment, and may improve public acceptance of the
Environmental Health
Services practice.
Health Promotion and The state Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in the Department of Environment
Education services and Natural Resources has regulatory and permitting authority for:
• wastewater systems that apply treated waste to the ground surface,
• treatment plants (both public and private) that discharge to surface waters,
Personal Health Services
and
• biosolid sites.
The rules that govern biosolids are adopted by the North Carolina Environmental
o Management Commission.
Orange County is one of only a handful of counties that have any local
~ involvement in the oversight of biosolids activities. In the early 1990's the
306-C Revere Road ~
PO Box 8181 Orange County Board of Health adopted an expansion of the wastewater system
Hillsborough, Nc 27278 = regulations to include local monitoring and reporting of several system types
permitted through DWQ. This Waste Treatment Management Program (WTMP)
~
Phone: (919) 245-2360 a administered by the Environmental Health Services staff of the Health
FAX: (919) 644-3006 ~
0
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Biosolids Memorandum
March 10, 2008
Department includes monitorin tg racking and oversight of biosolids activities within the county.
Specific responsibilities include
• a requirement for notification from biosolids appiiers,
• on-site inspection of the fields and the activities during application of biosolids to assure
compliance with the regulations and guidelines,
• notification of the applier, the permttee, and DWQ in the event compliance issues are
discovered, and
• response to complaints or emergency spills.
The state permitting process requires the applicant of new sites to notify the county manager of their
intent to apply for a permit. Environmental Health is notified after the sites are permitted by the
state. It is my understanding the OC Planning Department has some land use restrictions in certain
areas of the county that may preclude an application from going forward.
Environmental Health's involvement in the biosolids monitoring has brought about many changes in
these practices. Inspections in the early years of the program revealed regular non-compliance with
the permit requirements. For the most part, those issues have been addressed with education and the
applier's knowledge that these activities are subject to inspection and reporting. Sites that are
permitted to receive biosolids from OWASA, Burlington, and Mebane are well managed and
operated. We continue to get resistance from Hillsborough and from Durham to report any
activities, so their compliance remains unlaiown.
In December of 2006, the BOCC approved funds for the OCHD to enter into a contract with ITNC
School of Public Health to conduct a pilot study of biosolids applications and methods of measuring
potential effects on the environment and health. The health department and LTNC have encountered
difficulties in identifying an acceptable site to study. While Burlington and Mebane have been
approached and have agreed to cooperate in such a study, some apprehension by landowners, as well
as the drought conditions, have hampered the initiation of the study.
Regarding the future of this program, health department staff along with the Board of Health will
begin discussions later this year with DWQ to consider entering into a Memorandum of Agreement
with DENR to formalize some of our existing activities and possibly to expand our plan review,
monitoring and reporting activities. Any direction that the Board of Commissioners would like to
provide regarding this expanded role would be welcome.
Please feel free to contact either Tom Konsler or me with further questions.
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