Agenda - 10-08-1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Another sludge application requirement is that after a solid form of sludge has been applied to.the soil, the sludge must be incorporated into the soil by tilling or disking. Sludge that is applied as a liquid to pasture land need not be disked in, but livestock cannot graze on the land for thirty days. Permitting requirements involve complete site assessments to determine the capacity of the site to absorb the materials in sludge. This assessment includes the investigation of depth to groundwater, soil types, storm water runoff characteristics, topography and other pertinent factors. Sludge application sites require greater environmental and engineering investigation than any other waste treatment process. Other assessment requirements involve extensive study of the chemical characteristics of both the site and sludge. This enables regulatory agencies to specify the rate of application of the sludge so that nutrient requirements of cover crops and soil's assimilative capacity for metals and other chemicals are not exceeded on either a per application or lifetime basis. There are many advantages to agriculturally applied waste treatment sludge. Most sludge has a nutrient content higgh enough to be valuable to farmers in that it can be used in lieu of fertilizer on agricultural sites. A cost savings of $loo -200 per acre can often be realized. The sludge generators benefit in the ability to dispose of sludge in an EPA approved manner without have to purchase sludge disposal sites. The disadvantage of agricultural application is the inconvenience to the farmer who periodically is denied access to the land when sludge is being applied. Other disadvantages involve transportation costs, engineering and environmental studies and application costs. IV Regulatou Authorit3r and Re uirements There are three basic departments or divisions of local and state government which currently have authority over the design and permitting of the seven classifications of waste treatment systems. These entities with permitting jurisdiction are local health departments, the NC Division of Environmental Health (DES) and the NC Division of Environmental Management (DEM). In the case of local health departments, permitting responsibility and design approval is sometimes shared with DEH depending on the size of the system to be permitted. When a system's classification and size would normally cause it to fall under local health authority, but the system belongs to a unit of local or state government, the permitting authority usually reverts to DEM. When a system is to be owned and public utility, jurisdiction over the authority of the NC Utilities 11 operated by a licensed that utility falls under Commission, which delegates