Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
No. 66
Friday, April 5, 2002 Page A-2
ISSN 1521-9402
News
Water Pollution
Low Priority Given to Potential Effects Of Sludge Despite Concerns, IG Reports
Despite concerns about the effects on human health and the environment of
sewage sludge applied to fields, the Environmental Protection Agency continues
to make the issue a low priority, an inspector general's report said.
An EPA official who oversees the biosolids program disputed that, telling BNA
April 4 that the report overlooks several important activities involving the
management of biosolids. Among them is a pilot project to implement
environmental management systems in communities to improve the management of
biosolids.
The agency's inspector general said in the status report on the Land Application
of Biosolids released March 28 that states have complained that EPA is not
dedicating enough funding and resources to the program and that personnel
assigned to it have been cut nearly in half in the past three years.
Moreover, while EPA can delegate authority for the program to the states, so far
only five have states have been delegated. Another 17 are in the process, the IG
report said.
The report responded to a complaint filed by the National Whistleblower Center
based on allegations from David Lewis, an EPA researcher.
"The report shows that EPA didn't get the science right and has no idea how much
the public health and the environment may have suffered as a result," Lewis said
in an April 3 statement.
EPA issued a rule in 1993 setting requirements for the use and disposal of
sewage sludge, including land application, landfilling, and incineration. The
land application component of the rule has been the most controversial because
of concerns about the potential effects to human health and the environment of
toxic compounds that may be present in the biosolids, the term used for sewage
sludge that has been treated. The rule contains requirements for monitoring,
recordkeeping, and reporting. It establishes two classes of biosolids based on
whether pathogens are present at "detectable levels."
Questions about the safety of applying biosolids to land persist because of
continued uncertainty about some aspects of the assessment of risks to human
health and the environment relating to pathogens. As a result, the agency made
conservative assumptions in developing the 1993 rule, the IG said.
"In spite of the lack of a risk assessment on pathogens for the Sludge Rule, the
only research on pathogens committed to in the Preamble concerned the ecological
effects from pathogens," the report said. "However, there are indications that
more research is needed on risk to human health from pathogens in sludge."
Review of Sludge Rule Urged
Michael Cook, director of the EPA Office of Wastewater Management, told BNA
April 4 that the agency asked the National Research Council to review the sludge
rule, including the agency's risk assessment methods, data, and standards for
addressing pathogens. He said he expects the study within a month or so and
plans to put it out for comment.
The IG report said the management of biosolids varies widely among states.
"For example, one State land applied only 10 percent of the biosolids it
generated, while another land applied over 80 percent," the report said.
Cook said scarce resources present another ongoing challenge to the biosolids
program. The report said that the number of employees dedicated to the program
has been cut nearly in half since 1998.
Cook said funding for the water office has remained relatively flat while the
responsibilities have increased. He pointed to efforts to develop a new total
maximum daily loads rule while continuing to implement the existing one.
"We're not in a position where the states and EPA are not giving attention to
biosolids," he said.
Promoting Environmental Management Systems
One way the agency intends to address concerns regarding the biosolids program
is through a pilot project to promote the use of environmental management
systems, Cook said.
James Horne, a special assistant to Cook, said the pilot project has been funded
through a congressional appropriation within EPA's budget of about $4 million
over the past four years. It was developed by the National Biosolids
Partnership, composed of EPA, the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies
(AMSA), and the Water Environmental Federation (WEF), a professional association
of people who work in the water and wastewater industry.
"This is an attempt to improve the overall performance of the biosolids
program," Horne said.
The voluntary EMS project assumes the participants will comply with existing
regulations governing the land application of sludge, Horne said. However, the
goal is to have a system that goes beyond the regulatory requirements and
addresses such concerns as odor.
A hallmark of the EMS plan, Horne said, is the opportunity for public
involvement. Because of this level of public involvement and the requirement of
a third-party audit, public acceptance for the land application of biosolids may
increase.
Cook said the EMS project will focus on all aspects of biosolids management
"from cradle to grave."
He said the concept "is to determine the kinds of impacts biosolids have on
health and the environment and take measures to limit them."
The IG report also addressed concerns by the whistleblower group of the
"appearance of impropriety" because of grants EPA has made to AMSA and WEF,
which represent publicly owned treatment works that generate most of the sludge
in question. However, the IG report found that most of the funds were mandated
through congressional earmarks.
By Susan Bruninga