Land Application of Biosolids and Public Health

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Published July, 2003
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CBI Practitioners: 
Patrick Field

 

In July of 2003, CBI and RESOLVE of Washington, D.C. facilitated the first ever Biosolids/Treated Sewage Sludge Research Summit. The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) convened the Summit in response to the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences 2002 report, Biosolids Applied to Land: Advancing Standards and Practices (NRC report). The Summit brought together diverse stakeholders to hammer out a multi-year research agenda to address questions about the land application of treated sewage sludge/biosolids. Biosolids, or treated sewage sludge, is the solid organic matter recovered from the sewage treatment process. An estimated 6.9 million tons were generated in 1998 according to the EPA.

 

Planning for the Summit
By involving the public in setting the research agenda and in the actual research process, WERF sought to develop more widely accepted and credible information for use by treated sewage sludge/biosolids managers and policymakers. To ensure that the Summit involved diverse stakeholders from the start, WERF established a diverse group of individuals to serve on a Steering and Program Committee for the Summit. The Steerig Committee selected the larger Program Committee and helped decide the final format, groundrules, and objectives. The Program Committee included representatives of farming communities and private citizens, research scientists specializing in chemicals and pathogen exposure, and regulators from states and municipalities working on land application issues. These individuals represented a range of views on the appropriateness and safety of the application of treated sewage sludge/biosolids, including those who are proponents for, and opponents against, land application.

Obtaining Broad Input for Summit Design
In addition to facilitating the Program Committee, to assist the Program and Steering Committees in planning, CBI, RESOLVE, and the New England Biosolids Residuals Association (NEBRA) gathered information through a number of confidential, one-on-one phone calls and emails with stakeholders about the land application of treated sewage sludge/biosolids. Two reports were produced that represented a summarization of views by citizens, organizations, and researchers generally opposed to the land application of treated sewage sludge/biosolids as well as another that captured the views of people involved in the management of treated sewage sludge/biosolids and others involved in its regulation at the state and federal level. These documents assisted the Program Committee to understand the views of the many stakeholders and served as outreach tools in preparing participants for the Summit to understand the views of the many stakeholders involved.

 

Results of the Summit
After three days of intensive works by some seventy (70) participants and over one-hundred (100) observers, participants had developed 31 project concept templates for future research and ranked them. These were grouped into broad categories and included pathogens; human health; treatment, odor, and management; social, political, and economic impacts fate and transport of organic, inorganic, metals, and nutrients; and risk assessment. Potential health impacts and the need for a rapid response approach to assessing health risks was identified as one of the key topics to move forward on quickly. CBI has prepared a draft report from the Summit, circulated that for comment to the Program Committee, and is now awaiting comments from the participants on the draft report.

 

For more information on this case, please contact Managing Director Patrick Field.