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Y ~_.~ PAGE 6 E REPORTS 1 STEERING Cp~i*tITTEE/NON-PRDF~ HOUSING CORPORATI ??A~ EXPORT ~ ;' ~~' Reverend Susan Gladin reported on the development of a county-wide non-pro~£i~ housing development corporation. The Orange Community Housing Corporation grew out of '' governmental boards of Orange Gounty, Ghapel Hill and Carrbora. A steering committee has been formed and staff support has been provided through a grant. The steering commitzee~ has identified five steps they feel important to the program. The five steps include a mission statement, Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, operating strategy and incorporation. The mission statement and Articles of Incorporation are completed and in place. She continued with reading the purposes which are listed in the Article of Incorporation. She stated that it is hoped this corporation will gnaw to represent the entire county and will be a means of providing affordable safe housing for the targeted groups. 2. LAND APPLICATION OF SLUDGE IN ORANGE COUNTY John Link indicated that for several years land application of waste treatment sludge has been practiced in Orange County. There is some concern of the amount of sludge application being conducted in Orange County and concerns about the sludge being generated by the Gity of Durham. The report in the agenda provides a description of the status of sludge application in Orange County today. Paul Thames stated the report addresses concerns expressed about land application of sludge in Orange County. General sludge application practices will be used to address these concerns. With the use of overhead slides, Thames described sludge and outlined the permitting and monitoring requirements for the disposal of this material. He described the current status of sludge application in Orange County and Durham's proposed sludge application policies in Orange County. He concluded with stating that the land application of waste treatment sludge is an environmentally sound practice when the procedures outlined and mandated by the environmental regulatory agencies are followed.,.:::: Dr. Rubin, an associate professor of agricultural engineering at N.C. State r;_`;; University stated that regardless of where waste materials are applied, a permit must be obtained from the Division of Environmental Management for that application. To determine if land treatment is an option it is necessary to do a thorough and complete analysis of the waste which includes an analysis of the nutrients, heavy metals and organic material in the waste. The site characteristics axe then evaluated and a waste management plan is done which determines if land treatment is an option. When involved it a land application program, it is important to develop a monitoring program that looks at five aspects of the overall application program: (1) sludge quality, (2) land quality, (3; vegetation quality, (4) groundwater quality, and (5) field operation. A spill-control plan is another important part of a land application program. The vehicle operators must know how to respond if there is a spill. Arthux Mouberry, regional supervisor at the DEM's Raleigh regional office, states that the Division of Environmental Management does actively support land application of sludge. They see this as a beneficial use of a waste product and has proven it can be done with no impact on the environment. The process is tightly controlled through a permit process. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the manpower shortage at DEM and Mauberry publicly acknowledged that the Division is limited in resources and does not have the manpower to monitor like they would like. As part of the permitting process, the permittee is responsible for collecting and analyzing data and providing that data to Enviranznental Management. He stated that the County Commissioners wish to implement a monitoring program or requirement and fL- the Division will wank with the County. The regulations they follow are applied statewide. If the Commissioners determine that additional monitoring is needed, Oranr~