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MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH <br />August 28, 2008 <br />Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 1 August 28, 2008 <br />ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT: To enhance the quality of <br />life, promote the health, and preserve the environment for all people in the Orange County <br />community. <br /> <br />THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MET ON August 28, 2008 at the Southern <br />Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. <br /> <br />BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Chris Harlan, Chair; Anissa Vines, Vice-Chair; <br />Tim Carey; Ernie Dodson; DeWana Anderson; Matt Vizithum; Moses Carey, Jr.; Jim <br />Stefanadis; Jessica Lee <br /> <br />BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Sharon Freeland <br /> <br />STAFF PRESENT: Rosemary Summers, Health Director; Wayne Sherman, Personal Health <br />Services Division Director; Tom Konsler, Environmental Health Services Division Director; <br />Donna King, Health Promotion and Education Services Division Director; Angela Cooke, <br />Dental Health Services Division Director; Anne Miles Cassell, Administrative Assistant; <br /> <br />GUESTS PRESENT: Sue Dayton, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense; Dr. Pamela Groben, Carolina <br />Concerned Citizens League; Nancy Holt, Carolina Concerned Citizens League; Beverly Kerr, Blue <br />Ridge Environmental Defense <br /> <br />I. Welcome and Introductions <br /> <br />Chris Harlan, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. and introduced the guests <br />present at the meeting. <br /> <br />II. Approval of August 28, 2008 Agenda <br /> <br />The motion to approve the Agenda of August 28, 2008 was made by Moses Carey, <br />Jr., seconded by Tim Carey, and carried without dissent. <br /> <br />II. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda <br /> <br />The guests spoke to the Board on the topic of biosolids applications and its affects on the <br />environment and health of area residents. <br /> <br />Sue Dayton, state coordinator for NC Healthy Communities, a project of the Blue Ridge <br />Environmental Defense League, spoke on behalf of the League, Carolina Concerned Citizens, <br />and residents of Orange County. <br /> <br />Ms. Dayton said that hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage sludge are spread on <br />farmlands in Orange County. She explained that sludge is the semi-solids filtered from <br />wastewater at municipal wastewater treatment plants and offered to farmers free of charge <br />to be used as fertilizer. Ms. Dayton stated that in addition to OWASA, five counties dispose <br />of their sewage sludge in Orange County. <br /> <br />Ms. Dayton stated their concern that in addition to being an economical and inexpensive <br />alternative to commercial fertilizers, sludge can contain thousands of unregulated chemicals <br />of concern that cannot be removed by conventional treatment at Waste Water Treatment <br />Plants. Many of these chemicals have been found in surface waters in the area. She stated <br />that although the impact on humans is unknown the endocrine disrupting compounds that <br />concentrate in sludge cause deformities and reproductive disorders in fish and other aquatic <br />species. She stated that land application of sewage sludge poses a significant threat to the