Requests to apply treated sewage sludge to 160 hayfields in Campbell County and on two sites in Amherst County, will be considered by the state Water Control Board on June 21.
The Campbell County request has led more than 200 people to voice their objections to the state Department of Environmental Quality.
But many of those people may have complained to the wrong state agency, DEQ staff members said.
The Water Control Board, a branch of DEQ, will consider issuing a permit for the sludge application in Campbell County from Nutri-blend Inc. Total applications under the permit could add up to 3,400 acres, the DEQ said.
Nine out of every 10 of the people who commented said they wanted the DEQ to increase the buffer zones, or distance around their homes that should be kept free of the sludge. They said they were worried about health problems, possible groundwater contamination and harm to wildlife.
But they directed their concerns to the wrong agency, the DEQ staff said in responses it prepared for the water board’s hearing.
The health concerns should have been directed to the Virginia Department of Health, which had a representative present at a public hearing held by DEQ in Rustburg March 16, the agency’s staff said.
“During the course of the evening, the VDH representative did not receive any requests for permit modification on the grounds of specific health concerns,” the DEQ staff said.
Instead, 24 people spoke to DEQ officials at the hearing, and the agency received comments from 204 people altogether.
The staff comments indicate the DEQ will grant anyone’s individual request to provide a 400-foot buffer zone around their home.
The public comments raised a variety of objections from people who oppose spreading sewage sludge on land, including 11 from people who said the practice should not be allowed.
But the applications are legal, authorized and regulated, the DEQ staff said.
The board also will consider a request from Synagro, a sludge applicator, to apply treated sludge in Amherst County, including a field near the Piney River and the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail.
The perception that spreading treated sewage sludge on farmland is unhealthy could deter people from using the trail, residents said during a public hearing March 22.
The DEQ staff responded by saying the trail is more than 400 feet from the field, and on the other side of the river. The proposed permit includes restrictions to protect water quality and public health, the staff said.
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