From: Scott Keen
Columbus
I have followed The Republic reporting about the permit application for the wastewater treatment sludge (biosolids) storage structure that was submitted by Biocycle.
I am surprised no one has mentioned that Biocycle’s application seeks permission to use 22 specific biosolid application sites totaling 1,819 acres in Bartholomew County. About 155 “affected property owners” are listed.
Locations include south of the west-side Walmart; next to the BMX park and the water treatment plant at the fairgrounds; near Residences at Carr Hill; and south of the new apartments on Second Street.
The application says biosolids can be stockpiled at each land application site for 90 days in only a dirt and lime berm.
Also, biosolids will be applied with a side slinger (manure spreader) and then tilled into soil within six hours (per their vector attraction reduction control method). That allows lots of exposure to the air with resulting dusts and smells. Access to that land must be restricted for 30 days after application.
The Biocycle application indicates disposal of 2,000 tons per year of Class B biosolids, which are not actively treated to reduce pathogens.
The application says for “Pathogen Reduction”, Biocycle will use “Alternative 1 – Monitoring of Indicator Organisms”, testing only for one (fecal coliform) before land application, relying on natural die off of pathogens.
As others have noted, there is disagreement about the safety of biosolids. State mandated testing is generally limited to nutrients, pathogens, and metals. However, biosolids contain not just human wastes, but also residues from pesticides, pharmaceuticals, PFAS, parking lot run off, industrial discharges, and anything else that can and does get into a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Each sludge is unique.
Some food companies won’t buy crops grown in biosolids.
According to an article in The Guardian titled “Biosolids: Mix Human Waste With Toxic Chemicals, Then Spread On Crops”:
“… It’s what Sierra Club environmentalist Nancy Raine calls ‘the most pollutant-rich manmade substance on Earth’.”
And:
“’Spending billions of dollars to remove hazardous chemicals and biological wastes from water, only to spread them on soil everywhere we live, work and play defies common sense,’ said David Lewis, a former Environmental Protection Agency scientist.”
Biocycle indicates it plans to accept “industrial waste such as food waste, pharmaceutical waste, or paper waste” in the future. These materials are quite different from wastewater treatment plant biosolids and would increase volumes and management issues significantly.
Columbus has land applied its wastewater treatment sludge in various places for years, like on farm ground at the north end of Garden City, where farmers grew popcorn (they called it “poopcorn”). In fact, about half the city’s sludge is currently land applied under a City of Columbus permit, and about half is landfilled.
This is more than just one biosolids storage structure. This is a publicly operated program being “transitioned” (under what agreement?) to a private entity that plans to expand operations considerably, with real potential to impact multiple areas of Bartholomew County.
Caveat emptor.
