Minutes - 20091013 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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- Other potential joint or partnership activities that furthers needed knowledge or information regarding biosolids application. Commissioner Pelissier asked about the resources available if a task force were to be formed. She suggested making this a collaborative effort between the boards and commissions. She also asked about the outcomes of this forum with the "unbiased expert." She said that having a variety of speakers would provide different views. Frank Clifton said that an unbiased person would be a person who would have experience and knowledge and a broader view on this subject of water quality and the environment. Commissioner Jacobs said that they want to have people present, so he would like to invite comments from the public, so there should be some sort of facilitator. He would also like to invite debate. He said that it has already been the position of the County Commissioners of wanting more regulatory control over this issue, and he would like to have this discussed at this forum. He asked the County Attorney for suggestions about this. John Roberts said that he did look into the regulatory options and none are good options. He said that a local bill would not be possible, because it would be unconstitutional since the issue is one of health. A statewide bill is an option, which would grant local governments increased authority to regulate. There is some movement in the state to seek this. There is a statute that allows regional solid waste management authorities to regulate and manage sludge. There are only two regional solid waste management authorities in the state on the coast that regulate sludge. They only attempt to regulate it within the confines of their landfills. The final option would be litigation, and that is not really regulation. In this option, the County would sue the state for failing to adequately monitor the application of biosolids in Orange County. The two options that are most likely to succeed are showing the violation of the constitution of provisions that the state is required to follow and showing that the state is not adequately enforcing its own rules and regulations. He said that the state is currently looking at the Sludge Application Study of 2009 and whether current regulation of the land application of sludge adequately protects health and the environment. This report is due in 2010. His recommendation as far as regulation is that, if Orange County wants to seek partners to look for increased authority on a statewide basis, this could be started immediately. Also, the County could wait for the results of the study and see if the state does anything about it. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the forum and said that one of the things it is looking for is prioritized research needs. He said that the County is not spending all of the money on the study with UNC and he suggested using some of this money to looking into the research needs. Rosemary Summers said that there was $10,000 from the Health Department's budget that was encumbered for the research study, and none of it has been used because it was not an adequate amount to fund the research. Commissioner Hemminger said that she would be concerned that the forum would be preaching to the choir. She feels that the task force would be more productive. She thinks that the big questions are: Is it safe? Should we be doing it? What can we do about it? Chair Foushee said that the County Commissioners have tried to move forward twice legislatively and she sees the forum as educating more than just the County. She thinks that it would be hard to move forward with staffing a task force until there is an education piece. Frank Clifton said that a public forum could be well publicized. His big question is how much money the County Commissioners want to spend studying this.