Resident-activists fear pro-industry bias in planned sludge forum

Orange County Health Director Rosemary Summers wants the county commissioners to redirect money for a planned study of sewage sludge impact to a two-day forum on the topic this fall.

The pilot study, for which the Health Department approved $10,000, three years ago, never happened. Farmers who initially offered fields for testing later changed their minds. The drought made studying runoff into streams difficult.

The forum this October is meant to be a neutral look at the practice of applying biosolids, the slushy byproduct of the sewage treatment process, to rural fields. Farmers take the nitrogen-rich matter as free fertilizer. Some citizens-turned-activists says the sludge carries contaminants that are making some people sick. Everyone agrees biosolids are not tested for some things, like pharmaceuticals, that are most likely in the mix.

Sue Dayton of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense Leage and Myra Dotson of the Sewage Sludge Action Network are upset that money intended to provide scientific information will now be used on a discussion instead. They also fear critics exclusion on a planning committee could lead to a biased presentation.   

Summers says it won't. But I asked her if she thinks sludge could be making people sick. Isn't it possible that, as with other chemicals in our environment, some people are more sensitive than others. 

"I think we don't have enough information," she said. "There could be other sources of exposure [making people sick]. We just don't know what they are. There's just a lot we don't know."

But Summers also said Orange County is the only county in the state that monitors sludge application by requiring companies to inform the county when they're going onto fields. Staff do "infrequent, not announced" site visits to make sure those aplying the sludge are complying, she said.