| EPA
found: acetone anthracene barium beryllium carbon disulfide 4-chloroaniline diazinon fluoranthene manganese methyl ethyl ketone nitrate nitrite phenol pyrene silver |
In a move with implications for Kentucky and Indiana, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has denied a petition from 73 labor, environment and farm groups for a national ban on spreading fertilizer made from treated sludge.
But the EPA also has said it will further study potential health risks from 15 additional chemicals that are sometimes contained in sludge-derived fertilizers, and may later propose to regulate them. The agency already regulates nine chemicals in the byproduct, such as arsenic and zinc, as well as pathogens.
"The EPA is putting together an action plan on how to improve its program, and to address as much as possible any uncertainties," agency spokesman John Millett said last week.
The Metropolitan Sewer District is among those that could be affected by the EPA decisions. MSD makes about 80 tons of dried pellets a day that it wants to market as fertilizer for farms, golf courses, stadium grass and gardens by spring, with anticipated revenue offsetting the costs of treating sewage. And Indiana environmental officials have said about 250 municipalities in Indiana have permits to market or apply sewage byproducts, often called biosolids.
MSD Executive Director Bud Schardein said he believes the EPA made the correct decision in rejecting the petition. Schardein said properly treated and spread biosolids have not been shown to be harmful, but he said if the EPA decides in the future that it needs to impose new regulatory limits, MSD would comply. It already monitors for at least eight of the 15 chemicals, MSD officials said.
MSD applied to the state Division of Waste Management last month for a permit and a waiver of state limits on the amount of nickel, copper and zinc that can be in its fertilizer pellets. Officials are still reviewing the request, said Matt Hackathorn, waste division spokesman.
A supervisor in the department told The Courier-Journal in November that approval was imminent because MSD's product was "within what the federal government says is clean."
In a letter sent to lawyers representing the coalition of groups that submitted the petition, EPA assistant administrator G. Tracy Mehan III wrote that the agency "has carefully evaluated the information provided in the petition, as well as other sources of information, and has concluded that the facts do not support a moratorium on land application of sewage sludge."
Laura Orlando, a spokeswoman for the coalition, recently told the Associated Press that the EPA was "dodging the ball when nobody was looking" by revealing its petition decision on New Year's Eve. "Sewage sludge harms people's health and the EPA should ban its application on land," she said last week.
The EPA's decision to consider regulating additional chemicals — also announced Dec. 31 — was included in its response to a National Academy of Sciences panel that concluded in 2002 that the EPA needed to do more to ensure that farm workers and nearby residents are adequately protected.
An EPA analysis found 15 chemicals that could potentially pose unacceptable risks: acetone, anthracene, barium, beryllium, carbon disulfide, 4-chloroaniline, diazinon, fluoranthene, manganese, methyl ethyl ketone, nitrate, nitrite, phenol, pyrene and silver.
"EPA will update the concentration data on these chemicals by conducting a targeted sewage sludge survey," the agency said. "The new concentration data and results will serve as a basis for determining whether to propose amendments to the sewage sludge regulations for any of these chemicals."
In all, about 5.6 million tons of sewage sludge are used or disposed of each year in the United States; 60percent of that is applied to the land, according to the National Academy of Sciences report.
source: http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/11ky/met-front-fert01110-5079.html 11jan04
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