From: Ned Beecher, NEBRA [ned.beecher@nebiosolids.org] Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:10 PM To: NEBRA Subject: NEBRAMail & Conference Announcement NEBRAMail “essential news only...” September 25, 2008 ------------- * 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/news.html . ------------- “Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk” North East Residuals and Biosolids Conference & Exhibit November 12 & 13, Holiday Inn, Nashua, NH Details: http://www.nebiosolids.org Contents *“Celebrate Clean Water” Open Houses & Tours Continue *The 2008 North East Residuals and Biosolids Conference – November 12 & 13 *UN-HABITAT Publishes “Global Atlas of Excreta, Wastewater Sludge, and Biosolids Management” *The Familiar Biosolids Debate Shows Up in Québec *U. S. House Committee Holds Hearing on Emerging Contaminants *In Brief / En Bref... FOG workshops, Merrimack biosolids, Hartford, UK biosolids on radio, Halifax, PPCPs again, etc. *CALENDAR... ---------- “Celebrate Clean Water” Open Houses & Tours Continue Twenty of this region’s wastewater treatment plants and biosolids management programs have already provided open houses and tours of their operations, from Middlebury, VT to Seabrook, NH to Lewiston-Auburn, ME. Dozens of citizens, public officials, legislators, and water quality professionals have learned more about how wastewater and biosolids are managed in their region. And more open houses and tours are still to come: the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District’s biosolids processing operations will be the focus tomorrow, the 26th. On Saturday, the 27th, Milford, NH welcomes visitors. For the complete listing, see More Calendar at http://www.nebiosolids.org/mission.html#Anchor-CALENDAR- 30049. More about the events so far: http://www.nebiosolids.org/shownews.html?id=1005. The “Celebrate Clean Water” series of events is presented by NEBRA, the NH Water Pollution Control Association, Maine WasteWater Control Association, and the participating facilities. The series is, in part, in recognition of the International Year of Sanitation, 2008 (see http://esa.un.org/iys/). ---------- The 2008 North East Residuals and Biosolids Conference – November 12 & 13 Come Talk to Walk! So, you ask, what’s all the Talk about Biosolids and Residuals? Is there Anything New? Oh, Just a PLETHORA of things: new ventures to use biosolids for Energy and Products, attention from a U. S. Senate Committee, effective sludge minimization, biosolids Court Cases with diverse outcomes, a whole New Landscape because of High Energy Costs, managing diverse Organics together, Concerns about FOG, Needing Upgrades but Having No Money, assessments of Carbon Emissions, and Bad Economics.... The residuals & biosolids management World is Expanding like the Universe – sometimes it’s hard to tell Which Side Is Up! How do you Keep Apace? By Attending This Conference, Where 2 Days of Talking the Talk HELP YOU Walk the Walk for 363 More! For details, see http://www.nebiosolids.org. ---------- UN-HABITAT Publishes “Global Atlas of Excreta, Wastewater Sludge, and Biosolids Management” “It is crystal clear that, in addition to clean air, the well-being of our planet also requires that water, wastewater and the resulting biosolids (sludge) need to be managed more seriously, and in a focused, coordinated and cooperative manner.” This is a theme in this new Global Atlas, which details the management of excreta, wastewater, and biosolids in 37 countries around the world. Local experts in each country wrote chapters, and editors Ronald LeBlanc (Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission), Peter Matthews (Sustainable Organic Resources Partnership, UK), and Roland Richard (GMSC) - working with project managers, an editor, and a designer at UN-HABITAT in Nairobi – put them together in a 632-page volume. Ned Beecher of NEBRA wrote an overview chapter. The Atlas was formally introduced September 9th at the International Water Association World Water Congress in Vienna. According to an IWA news release: “’It’s a fantastic piece of work,’ said Dr Darren Saywell, IWA Development Director. ‘It presents a clear picture of what’s happening with biosolids management in countries all across the world,’ said Moncton’s chairman Ronald LeBlanc.” The new Global Atlas is available from the UN-HABITAT website; see http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=bookView&book=2551. ---------- The Familiar Biosolids Debate Shows Up in Québec A July 18th article in the Courrier of Laval, a northwest suburb of Montréal, discussed the fate and debate of Laval’s biosolids. The debate resurfaced, according to the article, “after... a report of the commission of transportation and environment recommended that they be beneficially used.” In response to questions by the article’s author, various farmers responded with typical concern. “’There is no proof that there is no impact from amending soils with sludge,’” said Norman Legault of the Federation of Market Producers of Québec. The president of the regional division of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) was quoted as saying “’There are no heavy metals in pig manure.” The article quotes data from the environment ministry, indicating that in 2004, 0.2% of Québec’s cultivated land received biosolids, and less than 10% of the crops grown with biosolids were for human consumption. Laval produces heat-dried pellets from 58% of its annual production of 39,419 wet metric tons of sewage sludge. The material meets the exacting standards of the Bureau de normalization du Québec (BNQ) – a certification that is required for use of biosolids on crops intended for human consumption. Of the 7,921 metric tons of dried biosolids pellets produced annually at Laval, 85% are burned in a cement plant at Saint-Laurent, 8% are composted, and 7% are used directly as farm fertilizer. The remaining 42% of Laval’s sewage sludge is landfilled. The Courrier article goes on to note that the environment ministry states that contaminants in biosolids present little risk, especially since “the Québec standards are among the most severe in North America.” The article notes that researchers have come to similar conclusions about the safety of biosolids used in accordance with Québec’s regulations. Nonetheless, the article closes with a quote from a representative of the Front commun québécois, who insists that, although “biosolids certified by BNQ cause fewer problems, one must be vigilant, because of new substances (hormones, drugs, etc.) that are found in sludge. And one does not know their effects.” See http://www.courrierlaval.com/article-233697-Fumier-humain.html ---------- U. S. House Committee Holds Hearing on Emerging Contaminants On September 18th, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on emerging contaminants in U. S. waters. Witnesses testifying before the Committee were David Littell (Commissioner of the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection), U. S. EPA’s Benjamin Grumbles, Matthew Larson (USGS), Keith Linn (representing NACWA), Tee Guidotti (George Washington Univ.), and Peter deFur (Virginia Commonwealth Univ.) A main theme of the hearing was summarized by Littell “There is a lot we don’t know about these contaminants and their effects when they are released to the environment.” DeFur noted “We don’t know much about how low concentrations and mixtures over long periods of time affect animals or humans.” Grumbles said that communities should not divert resources toward this issue from higher priorities and risks. Dr. Guidotti expressed similar concern about growing public cynicism about water and misguided calls for stopping disinfection of waters, which would create much larger risks. However, Grumbles noted that EPA is taking the issue seriously and focusing on research, because gaining more information is currently the highest priority. He mentioned the current EPA survey of sewage sludge from randomly-chosen treatment plants around the country to assess the levels of particular PPCPs they contain. In addition, EPA is working with the National Academy of Sciences to assess potential human health impacts. Several witnesses agreed that, at this point, chances are low that there are human health impacts from the low levels of contaminants currently found in U. S. waters, but that this could change as usage of phamaceuticals and other products increase. Product stewardship is a priority; in the spirit of pollution prevention, Grumbles said, “the toilet should not be treated as a trash can.” He and others urged product stewardship efforts to keep substances of concern out of wastewater and the environment to begin with. DeFur stressed the importance of evaluating effluents as a whole, not chemical by chemical, since it would be impossible to assess the tens of thousands of chemicals in commerce. The hearing can be viewed online and written testimony is available at http://transportation.house.gov/HEARINGS/HEARINGDETAIL.ASPX?NEWSID= 742. EPA’s new website on this issue is at http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/. ---------- In Brief / En Bref... NEIWPCC is offering two back-to-back workshops on FOG (fats, oil, grease) in Providence, RI, on October 6 & 7. See See http://www.neiwpcc.org/neiwpcc_docs/FOG2008Brochure.pdf. Merrimack, NH Moves Ahead on Biosolids Management Options Last year, the Town of Merrimack decided to open up its options for biosolids management. Its compost facility is getting old. The facility has produced a consistent product used in such prestigious places as Central Park and Boston Common. But, as noted in a June article in the Nashua Telegraph, “Moisture has damaged parts of the ceiling, and other maintenance issues mean $2 million is needed in repairs to continue operations for the next 20 years. Facing those problems, the town and the engineering firm Wright-Pierce have analyzed options.... Based on cost analysis for the next 20 years, they determined the least expensive option is to truck the sludge to a landfill in Rochester, where the town already takes its regular trash.” But Merrimack’s Assistant Director of Public Works, Jim Taylor recommended that proposals be requested for private management of the compost facility; proposals were received this month and are being evaluated at this time. Richard Seymour, current Director of Public Works in Nashua and former superintendent of that city’s wastewater treatment facility, will become Director of Public Works up the river in Merrimack as of October 1st, according to a Merrimack news release. Hartford MDC is looking ahead to major upgrades in the next decade, in order to achieve the capacity to manage “up to 250 million gallons a day,” according to an August story in the Hartford Advocate. Neighbors, however, are concerned because of the odors emitted from the plant, mostly deriving from storage of wastewater solids. “As part of its expansion, MDC will also begin generating electricity from the sewer sludge it burns in its incinerators at the plant. [Assistant manager of water pollution control Tom] Tyler estimates the process will provide up to 50 percent of the plant's power needs, saving millions of dollars annually.” In July, The World, a public radio news program produced by the BBC and WGBH in Boston, ran a story on biosolids use in Great Britain. Listen to “Human waste feeds British crops” at http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/19508. Halifax harbor reopened this summer to swimming, for the first time 30 years. According to a Canadian Press news article, “the news came nine months after the first of three waste water treatment facilities began operating as part of a $333 million project that took years of construction and difficult negotiations between three levels of government. Within days of the startup, ...readings showed a dramatic drop in bacterial contamination while the squadrons of tampons and condoms began to disappear” ( http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Atlantic/080727/t072702A.html). The new facilities provide advanced primary treatment. As noted in an article by Rae Wallin, president of NViro Canada, which appeared in Halifax’s Chronicle Herald, the solids from the new Halifax facilities are being successfully treated at a facility in the Aerotech Business Park. “We are particularly proud to bring to the Harbour Solutions Project a beneficial, sustainable approach to dealing with the processing of wastewater biosolids,” writes Wallin. Plasma-assisted oxidation (PASO) is being demonstrated at the Salaberry de Valleyfield wastewater treatment facility along the St. Lawrence River in southwest Québec. The plasma-assisted process, which was initially developed by Hydro-Québec and is being advanced by Fabgroups, which is now seeking funding. An interesting article on wastewater treatment at Fields Point appeared in the Providence Journal September 16th. See http://www.projo.com/news/environment/content/feeding_the_bugs_09-16- 08_HTBCRSF_v19.1006eba.html. Biosolids compost facilities in New York State are now easily located using a map and database online at the Cornell Waste Management Institute website: http://compost.css.cornell.edu/maps/simple-search.asp. The list is broken down into Yard Waste, Manure, Food Scraps and Biosolids compost facilities, and clicking on a facility’s location leads to basic information about the facility. (Thanks to Bob Adamski for forwarding this item.) Researchers at Virginia Tech are looking into why some crops grown with biosolids resist drought better than other crops. They hypothesize that biologically active ingredients in biosolids may trigger responses in plants that aid in drought survival. They plan to test their hypothesis in field corn trials. The Associated Press (AP) produced another in-depth story on pharmaceuticals in wastewater, this time focusing on bulk disposal of unwanted and unused drugs in health care facilities. The story was carried by most major newspapers and posted on other media websites. See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94607584. ---------- CALENDAR.... September 25 – October 2: CELEBRATE CLEAN WATER - Ongoing wastewater and biosolids management open houses in MA, ME, and NH. See http://www.nebiosolids.org/mission.html#Anchor-CALENDAR-30049. October 6 & 7: FOG Workshops by NEIWPCC. See http://www.neiwpcc.org/neiwpcc_docs/FOG2008Brochure.pdf. November 12 & 13: Annual North East Residuals and Biosolids Conference & Exhibit, Holiday Inn, Nashua, NH. Download brochure and registration at http://www.nebiosolids.org/pdf/08NEResidlsConf-WebForm.pdf More Calendar at http://www.nebiosolids.org/mission.html#Anchor-CALENDAR- 30049. ---------- 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