Orange County NC Website
<br />~~re <br />MEMORANDUM <br />~~~ <br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />HEALTH DEPARTMENT <br />Rosemary L Summers, <br />MPH, DrPH <br />Healli~ Director <br />Richard E. Whiffed Human <br />Services Center <br />300 West't'ryan Street <br />Post Office Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 2727$ <br />Phone: (919) 245-2411 <br />Fax: .(919) 644-3007 <br />w w t v. c o. o re n o e. n c. us/h e a It h <br /> <br />Central Administrative <br />Services <br />Dental Health Sen~ices <br />EnvironmentaE Health <br />Services <br />Health Promotion and <br />Education Services <br />Personal Health Services <br /> <br />306-C Revere Road <br />P O Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />Phone: (919) 245-2360 <br />FAX: (919) 644-3006 <br />~_ <br />`a$ <br />>" <br />a <br />E <br />c <br />I? <br />.~ <br />u1 <br />To: Laura Blackmon, County Manager <br />From: Rosemary Summers, Health Director <br />Date: March 10, 2008 <br />Re: Biosolids Program in Orange County <br />CC: David Stanch, Environment & Resource Conservation Director <br />Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager <br />Willie Best, Assistant County Manager <br />Tom Konsler, Environmental Health Services Director <br />Board of Health <br />In response to questions that may arise from some of the public comment at the <br />BOCC meeting last night, I thought it might be helpful to outline the level of <br />county involvement in the application of biosolids in Orange County. <br />Biosolids are the digested and treated solids that result from the wastewater <br />sewage treatment plant process. This byproduct contains a significant amount of <br />nutrients that are beneficial to plants ,and are commonly land-applied to <br />agricultural fields as a useable resource. There are regulations and a permitting <br />process that -govern this practice due to the potential for adverse environmental or <br />public health effects if it were otherwise unregulated. There are two classes of <br />biosolids, Class "A" and Class "B". All of the utilities in this area produce Class <br />B biosolids. Some, such as OWASA are considering a higher Ievel of treatment to <br />meet Class A standards. This would reduce some of the regulatory requirements, <br />pose a Iower risk to the environment, and may improve public acceptance of the <br />practice. <br />The state Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in the Department of Environment <br />and Natural Resources has regulatory and permitting authority for: <br />• wastewater systems that apply treated waste to the ground surface, <br />• treatment plants {both public and private) that discharge to surface waters, <br />and <br />• biasolid sites. <br />The rules that govern biosolids are adopted by the North Carolina Environmental <br />Management Commission. <br />Orange County is one of only a handful of counties that have any local <br />involvement in the oversight of biosolids activities. In the early 1990's the <br />Orange County Board of Health adopted an expansion of the wastewater system <br />regulations to include local monitoring and reporting of several system types <br />permitted through DWQ. This Waste Treatment Management Program (WTMP) <br />administered by the Environmental Health Services staff of the Health <br />C:\I?ocuments and Settingsltkonster\L.ocat Settings\Temporary Internet <br />3iosolids Summary 031tX18.doc <br />