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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH August 28, 2008 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 2 August 28, 2008 health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Orange County. The Federal Clean Water Act states that the use of sludge is to be determined by counties. The Orange County Board of County Commissioners requested a hearing on the City of Burlington’s permit renewal to spread sludge be held in Orange County. The BOCC’s request was denied. Recommendations were submitted to DWQ concerning the City of Burlington’s permit to spread sludge and were denied. She stated that the potential threats from sludge can only be alleviated by county government and environmental health leadership. Dr. Pamela Groden, Carolina Concerned Citizens, is a physician and pathologist. She stated she was aware of the treatment, prevention, and the value of informed consent. What Carolina Concerned Citizens wants to do is to provide educational information for farmers that will enable them to give informed consent to use bio-solids. Annual testing is done for approximately ten common toxins; however, no testing is done for many other toxins that are in everyday use. Toxic heavy metals can build up in the soil and be passed to food production or livestock grazing, as evidenced by the loss recently experienced by a Georgia dairy farmer of 300 cattle and thousands of acres of pastureland due to years of sludge application. She stated that even the milk was contaminated. Certified Organic produce cannot be grown on sludge fertilized land. Nancy Holt, Carolina Concerned Citizens, directed the Board’s attention to the fact that many people have no idea that sludge application is going on. She spoke of the many ways our food can be compromised and pointed out that many food sources contain contaminants that are above the safe levels ascribed by the FDA. There are many major food manufacturers that now refuse to accept products from producers that utilize sludge as fertilizer. She also emphasized the connection between sludge and health concerns. Beverly Kerr, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense, provided the Board with a handout that included studies and articles related to land application of sewage sludge. Moses Carey said that the County Commissioners were made aware of the sludge issue from a presentation given at one of the BOCC meetings and appreciated the group’s persistence with this issue. He stated that as a result of the presentation to the Commissioners he had been doing much reading up on the topic to become better informed and said the Commissioners are concerned about it. He asked about the Federal Law statement earlier in the presentation; if there is anyone regulating sludge application? He also asked about nuisance suits. Ms. Dayton replied that there is a process for filing a complaint that was many steps and is cumbersome to get to a lawsuit stage. Dr. Carey asked if there is a county in NC that is currently regulating application of sludge. Ms. Holt replied that no counties in the state regulate it however; Orange County is the only county doing anything at all. Rosemary Summers explained that our environmental health division monitors all sludge applications to ensure that conditions of the permit are met. We do not have the authority to regulate sludge application. Fields using sludge applications may not be used to grow food products. Chris Harlan thanked the speakers for coming to the meeting and that the Board of Health would study the information provided and decide what course of action would be best. III. Action Items on CONSENT Agenda A. Minutes approval of June 26, 2008 meeting.