Biosolids NewsClips - April 14, 2022
NewsClips is filled with important articles from around the world, and this edition includes some positive articles, including a press release addressing questions related to PFAS, from the MABA Board of Trustees that was shared with news media outlets, legislators, and regulatory bodies across the MABA region.
Other positive news includes highlights on funding for Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) for their work on a process to precondition sludge prior to anaerobic digestion, construct and implement an anaerobic digestion facility, and to produce dewatered Class A biosolids. Additionally, articles about the infectious disease tracking at waste water treatment facilities, as well as amazing results on cotton crops using biosolids now passing two decades in research are included in the clips this month.
Unfortunately, there continue to be less than positive articles around the continued concern and resulting legislative actions surrounding PFAS in biosolids and the potential risks involved in land application. This issue is at the forefront in Maine and several nearby states.
Stay tuned for more information from MABA. If you have any news to share, please contact Mary Firestone at 845-901-7905 or [email protected].
MABA appeals for collaboration from communities and stakeholders: Contain PFAS releases at their source
Harrisburg, PA (Mar 18, 2022) Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA) appeals for collaboration from communities and stakeholders: Contain PFAS releases at their source - not after their escape into sewers The Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA), today announced an appeal to the regions’ communities and stakeholders related to recent concerns regarding PFAS contaminants and their potentially harmful effects to citizens.
Board of Public Works approves funding for clean water and the Chesapeake Bay
Baltimore, MD (Apr 7, 2022) A $15 million Water Quality State Revolving Loan Fund loan to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission … will include a process to precondition sludge prior to anaerobic digestion, an anaerobic digestion facility and a facility to produce dewatered “Class A biosolids,” which can be beneficially reused as fertilizer on farms and sold to home gardeners.
Mickey Nowak: Sewer plants running out of places to put biosolids
Monson, MA (Apr 6, 2022) ...That disaster is the inability of New England wastewater treatment facilities to manage and dispose of their biosolids, the solid organic matter that results from modern wastewater treatment processes. With all of the smart minds and institutions in New England, shouldn’t we be able to regionally come up with a solution to this problem? Isn’t that the morally correct thing to do?
Edmonds sewer project will reduce carbon footprint | Guest View
Edmonton, Alberta (Apr 8, 2022) The City of Edmonds is partnering with the Department of Enterprise Services, Ameresco, and Ecoremedy to complete a $27 million carbon recovery project. The project's focus is to replace the City's 30-year-old sewage sludge incinerator (SSI) at its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with a new gasification system that will convert the biosolids produced in the treatment process into an alternative, carbon-rich resource called "biochar."
3M, Georgia Town Must Face Suit Over PFAS in Water Supply
Trion, GA (Apr 1, 2022) Mount Vernon Mill purchased products containing PFAS from 3M and other manufacturers to make water- and stain-resistant fabrics, the lawsuit says. The PFAS then arrives through wastewater to the Trion Water Pollution Control Plant…. The Town of Trion argued it’s immune under the Georgia Constitution, but … immunity doesn’t apply to counties and similar municipalities, the court said March 30.
'Don't Poop on Putnam': Fight over fertilizer in the form of treated human waste
Putnam County, FL (Mar 30, 2022) Downes wants state and county permission to spread fertilizer in the form of human waste on 47 acres of that land. Downes has the American BioClean operation in nearby Volusia County, a wastewater treatment plant treating septic, sludge, and grease, according to its website. " Downes wants the okay to spread a truckload-a-day of human waste fertilizer onto land in Putnam County. In Putnam County, the application of biosolids is allowed on agricultural land.
Taunton sludge plant public forum gives Aries and opposition chance to grow their support
Taunton, MA (Mar 29, 2022) Aries Clean Technologies… proposed facility, to be located at Taunton’s landfill, would convert the city and region’s sewer waste into biochar, to be sold to the concrete industry. … biochar has become a sought-after binding agent for concrete...
Is poop surveillance the future of tracking infectious diseases?
Modesto, CA (Mar 27, 2022) Sewage surveillance is proving so useful that many researchers and public health officials say it should become standard practice in tracking infectious diseases, as is already the case in many other countries. But whether that happens — and which communities get access — depends on the nation’s ability to vastly scale up the approach and make it viable in communities rich and poor
Ex-owner of Pike County sewage treatment facility charged for improper waste disposal
Pike County, PA (Mar 24, 2022) James M. Muir, 78, is charged with four misdemeanor counts of unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act for his alleged actions while running Pike County Environmental, which treated sewage, and M&S Sanitation Sewage Disposal, which trucked in the sewage. The investigator interviewed four former employees, who said that waste was buried on the property, as well as stored outside after the “massive building” that housed pressed sewage sludge was full.
Mayor: Tenino Could Turn Human Waste Into Fertilizing Biosolids Within Three Years
Chehalis-Centralia, WA (Mar 21, 2022) Within three years, Tenino Mayor Wayne Fournier wants to install a compost system at the Tenino Wastewater Treatment Plant that will turn human waste into fertilizer. He said the process of creating the class A biosolids is “pretty rudimentary” from his understanding. The carbon-based matter used to break the biosolids down into their pathogen-free, class-A state could be done with the byproducts from marijuana manufacturers.
Letter to the Editor: Please Do More Research on Bio-Solids
Farmers fertilising 'exceptional' cotton crops with treated human sewage
Queensland, Australia (Mar 19, 2022) A groundbreaking trial that started 20 years ago fertilising Queensland cotton farms with treated human sewage has become so popular more than 100 farmers are now on the waiting list. Biosolids have increased soil carbon and doubled crop yields for long-term users Soils treated with biosolids are more friable, hold more water, and retain organic nutrients for years
Riverhead pursues innovative method to reduce and reuse sludge produced at its sewer plant
Riverhead, LI, NY (Mar 17, 2022) The autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion process — also referred by its parent company Thermal Process Systems as ThermAer — in addition to decreasing the amount of sludge cake the district needs to dispose of at a landfill, turns liquid sludge into a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ‘Class A’ biosolid, an unrestricted, nutrient-rich and reusable matter that can be used to improve the physical qualities of soil. The long-term plan is to give the soil conditioner away for free to local businesses and residents, [and] that, in turn, will reduce the district’s ever-increasing cost of transporting it to a Pennsylvania landfill for disposal.
Alabama neighbors ask for stricter rules over sludge dumping on land
Birmingham, AL (Mar 18, 2022) Neighbors from north and central Alabama traveled to Montgomery Thursday to ask state leaders for stronger rules to govern sludge spraying across land in the state. The Alabama Rivers Alliance and Black Warrior Riverkeeper both had representatives speak out against the sludge spraying. Other speakers lived near dump sites and complained of unexplained health issues. West urged ADEM leaders to adopt rules to screen and test biosolids for high levels of PFAS
North Alabama ‘sludge farm’ may be shutting down
Commentary: A knee-jerk ban of sludge spreading would hurt Maine
Central Maine (Mar 15, 2022) PFAS contamination at several Maine farms has been an unmitigated tragedy. Some farms spread industrial sludge containing high levels of PFAS, or spread municipal sludge contaminated by an industrial process where high amounts of PFAS were used. Using biosolids and sludge as fertilizer – instead of dumping it in a landfill – reduces carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Land application of biosolids also serves as a critical step in public wastewater treatment that protects public health and the environment. It puts residuals that every community has to manage to productive use. The proposal, therefore, that we must ban all biosolids in order to protect public health is an overreaction. A ban doesn’t limit our exposure to PFAS and doesn’t address the terrible legacy situations on several Maine farms.
Maine farmers seek fund to clean up PFAS contamination
Farmers shouldn’t suffer because of state-sponsored sludge
We can’t wait to address PFAS contamination
‘I don’t know how we’ll survive’: the farmers facing ruin in Maine’s ‘forever chemicals’ crisis
No one knows how many gallons of ‘forever chemicals’ are flowing in Maine’s waters
Letter to the editor: What other toxins does municipal sludge contain?
Potatoes may be safer from PFAS than other crops
Maine Senate advances $100M aid fund for farmers struggling with PFAS contamination
Landfills, farmers, wastewater treatment plants push back on proposed ban on sludge spreading
Maine Work Boots Alliance opposes proposed ban on sludge
PFAS is the problem, not today’s biosolids
Bradley County Landfill Stops Taking Sludge From Cobb County, Ga.
Chattanooga, TN (Mar 14, 2022) The Bradley County Landfill is no longer taking sludge from Cobb County, Ga., effective March 1. Mike Clausen of Republic said, in addition to numerous odor complaints, that the large amount of Georgia sludge was getting the landfill out of balance on the wet side.
Treating Greater Victoria's sewage: Cleaner ocean, but 'kinks' remain
Victoria, BC (Mar 13, 2022) In early January 2021, effluent from the five core municipalities started making its way through the $775-million sewage-treatment plant at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt, ending the dumping of raw waste that had been blighting Victoria’s waters — and reputation — since 1894. Despite some kinks, the plant is treating wastewater to a “tertiary” level, which is above federal standards, and the biosolids plant at Hartland landfill is pushing out the solids created by treatment for use as fuel in cement kilns.
Greater Victoria group demands halt to spread of biosolids at landfill |
May 2022 - Sally Brown Research Library & Commentary
Provided for consideration to MABA members by
Sally Brown, PhD., University of Washington
Nitrogen - A Global Sustainability Perspective
It is easy to lose sight of why we do this in the first place. After a long battle it seemed like PPCPs. pharmaceuticals and personal care products were fading into the sunset. Then PFAS has hit like a Category 5 twister. Anti-biosolids sentiment appears to be on the rise, with common sense and a view towards the future losing favor. With all of that in mind, I decided that this month’s library should remind us all of the importance of what we do. What better way to do this than to take a look at nitrogen? All of the agronomic rates for biosolids are N based. The nitrogen content of the material has long been viewed as one of its most valuable components. While too many of the activists out there are calling for biosolids to be thrown under the bus or into the landfill, on a global stage our understanding of the impact of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers is saying the opposite.
The library starts with an older (being a relative term) paper from 2009. In this highly cited paper, the authors look at the impact of synthetic N fertilizers on soils used to grow cereal grains. That is the broad term used for grain crops including wheat, oats, barley and spelt. The authors start by sampling from the longest running field trial in the U.S. -- the Morrow plots in Illinois. What they observe is that adding synthetic fertilizer depletes soil organic nitrogen reserves, the fertilizer for the future. This impact is particularly clear at lower soil horizons. The authors then look at studies from across the globe to see if their finding is unique. It is not. Here is how they explain it. It had been thought that if you add enough synthetic N to soil it would spur enough growth to add C. That C in turn would be the food needed for soil microbes to immobilize the excess added N as organic N. It turns out that the added C is not enough to immobilize N. Instead, what has happened is that the added N is more than the increased C, resulting in more mineralization of C and less C to store excess N. This is not a good cycle. The results for N from the Morrow plots are shown in the figure below. The take home message here is that synthetic N does not promote soil carbon or nitrogen storage and so does not help soil health. It is bad for soils.
Paper #2 talks about how use of synthetic N impacts air quality. The answer here is also not good. The authors look at ammonia emissions associated with use of synthetic fertilizers. Eighty to 90% of ammonia emissions come from agriculture. Concentrations of N in the atmosphere are 20x higher than they were 100 years ago. Excess N in the air gives us eutrophication, acidification and loss of diversity. It also makes smog, which makes breathing harder. Here is the result of this study in one sentence:
Results indicate that global NH3 emissions from N fertilizer use have increased from 1.9 ± 0.03 to 16.7 ± 0.5 Tg N/ year between 1961 and 2010.
Here is what it looks like in a picture:
The US has been a hotspot for ammonia emissions from the 1960s on through the present. India and Asia are now also big hotspots for emissions. Clearly this is not good and is not a sustainable model for the future.
We looked at soil in #1 and air in #2, but we are going to skip water and instead move to solutions for #3. This article looks into the future and to the challenge of feeding everyone in 2050. Here they note that not only is use/reliance on synthetic N not sustainable, but it is also unlikely to produce enough food without a significant increase in croplands. Here they look at whether going organic is a feasible option with an increase in the use of legumes to provide enough N. Organic alone will result in an insufficient amount of N. They go on to look at different diets including those that allow for consumption of eggs, dairy, eggs and dairy, and neither eggs nor dairy. One of the critical tools identified here is appropriate use of nutrients from various organic wastes (that means you).
In fact, we are explicitly considered as a potential solution:
Circular economy strategies included the performance of strategies such as reduction of food waste (Muller et al., 2017; Springmann et al., 2018) and the closure of nutrient cycles through use of organic municipal solid waste and wastewater treatment plant (municipal and human waste) sludges as fertilizer.
The integration of residual N from wastes as a component of the circular economy solution has a major impact, so much so that we can feed people and still eat meat (only if you want) occasionally. The benefits/impacts of this portion of their calculations are shown below with circular economy benefits in pink.
The last two papers are meant for your planning departments. If wastewater is truly going to transition to resource recovery, then it is time for a serious makeover. As paper #5 points out, current systems use considerable energy to release NH3 by turning it back into nitrogen gas (2.6-6.2 kWh/kg N). Here is the take home quote:
It has been believed that ammonium recovery from municipal wastewater is game- changing the current landscape of municipal wastewater reclamation, and is perfectly aligned with the concept and practice of circular economy with the ultimate goal of transforming present wastewater treatment plants to a resource recovery factory (Batstone et al., 2015; Ye et al., 2018).
Both papers #4 and #5 go into detail on several processes that could be adopted to recover rather than release nitrogen from the systems. The most excited to me is anaerobic membrane reactors. They also talk about different algae and chemical reaction, different membranes, etc. Mull over this for a while. Recognize yourself as a critical component of the solution. Next month I’ll likely go back to contaminants. Heads up, microplastics are appearing in more papers these days than PFAS.
Sally Brown is a is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Washington, and she is also a columnist and editorial board member for BioCycle magazine.
Do you have information or research to share with MABA members? Looking for other research focus or ideas?
Contact Mary Firestone at [email protected] or 845-901-7905. |
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Contact Information:
Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association
Mary Firestone, Executive Director
[email protected]
For Immediate Release
Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA) appeals for collaboration from communities and stakeholders: Contain PFAS releases at their source - not after their escape into sewers
HARRISBURG, March 17, 2022 - The Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA), today announced an appeal to the regions’ communities and stakeholders related to recent concerns regarding PFAS contaminants and their potentially harmful effects to citizens.
“We believe that the ‘polluter pays’ principle that guides many environmental protections in Pennsylvania, and across the Mid-Atlantic region, should be applied to reducing human and environmental risks from PFAS,” said Anne Marek, MABA president, “And that principle relies on the idea that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment.”
The phase out of the manufacture of PFOA and PFOS, two major types of PFAS, since 2011, has resulted in significantly declining levels of PFAS concentrations in wastewater and biosolids. Likewise human blood samples, which demonstrate the health improvement potential of eliminating sources of PFAS compounds, have decreased. However, the continued public exposure to PFAS from ubiquitous sources during manufacture and use, including some carpets, clothing, cosmetics, paper products, food packaging, and cookware, presents concern for individuals, communities, and the environment.
While the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is driving the thorough and rigorous development of PFAS analysis protocols in wastewater and biosolids, they are still in development. The long standing fact remains that biosolids land application is an excellent way to recycle wastewater solids as long as the material is quality controlled. It returns valuable nutrients to the soil and enhances conditions for vegetative growth. Furthermore, the use of biosolids in land application reduces the amount of wastewater solids disposed of in landfills, costs for the community, the production of greenhouse gasses, and affords space in landfills for other types of waste.
“MABA members take pride in their adherence to quality control regulations for the biosolids they produce and apply in the region,” said Marek, “And we encourage the state based environmental agencies to take action on PFAS. We want to work together with these groups to determine hotspots for PFAS across the region and work with wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to identify and eliminate industrial discharges to public sewers.”
Pennsylvanians alone produce an estimated 2.2 million tons of wastewater solids, or sewage sludge and residential septage, each year, nearly a quarter of a ton per household. This material has proven to be a valuable resource, when controlled and safely applied, as a fertilizer to help rejuvenate farmland, forests and minelands. Many farmers in the mid-atlantic region have been able to reduce input costs while maintaining productivity in their fields with the use of municipal biosolids. Land application of biosolids is a historically safe and sustainable method to achieve a functioning circular economy that eliminates waste and enhances the environment.
The MABA Board issued a position statement of biosolids PFAS to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in December 2021, related to proposed changes to general permits for land application of biosolids in the Commonwealth.
The Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA), founded in 1997, is a non-profit organization devoted to ensuring that biosolids are recognized everywhere as a valuable community resource through the communication of the benefits of biosolids resources within the wastewater community and the communities we serve.
You can download a copy of the press release here. |
SPOTLIGHT on COMPOST
Composting is an enduring process for transforming biosolids into a Class A EQ product. Compost facilities in the mid-Atlantic region span a full array of sizes, technologies, and ownership models. The region has facilities located both at small water reclamation plants and at large treatment plants. It has windrow systems, enclosed static pile, and in-vessel agitated beds. Composting is done with various amendments -- purchased wood chips, yard debris, and organic matter recovered from solid waste. The region has various ownerships -- municipally-owned and operated composting, municipally-owned and contract-operated, and privately-owned merchant facilities. The common element to all of this variety is a product that is has a firm place in the landscape market for use in residential and commercial landscaping, as a component in soil blending, and as a specialty amendment for agriculture. Biosolids compost is a well-tested and well-accepted soil product. What is more, at least two more biosolids composting facilities are in permitting within the region. Below are several of the branded biosolids compost products made by MABA members
McGill SoilBuilder Premium Compost
 For more than 30 years, McGill Environmental Systems has designed, built, and operated state-of-the-art indoor facilities for industrial-scale production of McGill SoilBuilder Premium Compost. It manufactures this premium compost product through the processing and recycling of non-hazardous, biodegradable by-products and residuals from municipal, industrial, and agribusiness sources. The McGill Regional Composting Facility at Waverly (McGill-Waverly) opened in 2008. It is in Sussex County, Virginia, near the town of Waverly. Its primary service area includes the coastal mid-Atlantic region. This encompasses the District of Columbia south through Richmond-Tidewater to northeastern North Carolina. McGill-Waverly accepts all types of biodegradable materials including food waste and compostable plastics. It is designed to receive and process source-separated wastes transported in roll-off containers, tractor-trailer rigs, and other commercial vehicles that can safely tip into the receiving bunker. Located on a former timber tract, the operation processes in both banked and encapsulated bays with aerated curing. Aerated curing eliminates the need for windrow turners at this facility.
For more information, contact Sean Fallon, Business Development Manager, [email protected], 919-406-4270. The Waverly facility is located at 5056 Beef Steak Rd, Waverly, VA 23890. WeCare Compost
 WeCare Denali, a division of Denali Water Technologies, operates 24 composting facilities around the United States, two of which are county-owned biosolids composting plants. The Burlington Biosolids Composting Facility is a 300 ton per day capacity composting facility in Columbus, NJ, owned by Burlington County, but operated by WeCare Denali, serving about 20 agencies in the county and beyond. It is the largest biosolids facility in New Jersey under contract operations. The Rockland Green Co-Composting Facility, owned by the Rockland County Solid Waste Authority, recycles biosolids from wastewater plants in Rockland County, NY. At both plants, biosolids are mixed with clean wood waste and then composted in in-vessel agitated bed composting systems. The finished product is used on golf courses, flower gardens, and landscaping projects, and are also ingredients in topsoil This plant is adjacent to the Authority's Materials Recovery Facility and Transfer Station in Hillburn, NY. WeCare Denali markets a suite of WeCare Compost products under its WeCare Compost, Mulch, & Soil line.
For more information, contact national sales manager, Ryan J. Cerrato, [email protected], 315-575-4595. The Burlington facility address is 800 Coc-co Lane, PO Box 318, Columbus, NJ 08022. The Rockland facility is 1988420 Torne Valley Road, Hillburn, NY 10931.
ORGRO High Organic Compost
 ORGRO is a product of the Baltimore City Compost Facility, a facility owned and operated by Veolia, under contract with the city of Baltimore Department of Public Works. This facility, which was first built in 1984, processes a 45 dry ton per day portion of the anaerobically digested biosolids from the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, the balance made into a thermally dried product. The compost plant produces about 35,000 cubic yards of compost in through in vessel composting and extended curing. This facility is one of the original national examples of a public-private partnership, and one of the original programs for commercial marketing of biosolids to commercial landscapers.
For more information, contact Tom Fantom, project manager, [email protected], 410-354-1636. The facility address is 5800 Quarantine Road, Baltimore, MD, 21266. Landscaper’s Advantage
 Landscaper’s Advantage is the product of the A&M Compost Facility, a large enclosed static pile composting plant owned and operated in Manheim, Pennsylvania by the J.P. Mascaro company. It is a merchant plant, accepting biosolids from a wide reach of plants in the mid-Atlantic. The facility is nearly 15 acres under roof. Its website offers a “ virtual tour” slide deck describing the components of its operation and its environmental controls, which includes under one cover both aerated composting and biofiltration. A&M is managed by a registered professional engineer, Ryan Inch, PE, and a compost specialist, Mark Hubbard.
For more information, contact Matt Mascaro, [email protected], 267-228-5288. The facility is located at 2022 Mountain Rd, Manheim, PA 17545.
earthlife Compost
 The Hawk Ridge Composting Facility, New England’s largest compost facility, is owned and operated by Casella Organics, a MABA Board member This facility uses an in-vessel tunnel system (the Gicom Tunnel) to compost a blend of biosolids with woodchips and sawdust, producing a screened compost with the tradename earthlIfe. Recently, Hawk Ridge reached the distinction of delivering its one-millionth cubic yard of compost. Its wholesale customers include golf courses, nurseries, garden centers, and athletic facilities.
For more information, contact John Leslie, [email protected], 207-461-1000. The facility is located at 3 Reynolds Road, Unity, ME 04988. |
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