RLEP's Position on the Land Application of Sewage Sludge

by Paul R. Farmer, President, RLEP, Fall 2006

RLEP supports strict County regulation of the spreading of sewage sludge on farm and forest land.

RLEP believes that keeping the land application of sewage sludge out of Rappahannock County is in the best health, safety, environmental, and financial interests of every county citizen. Read more about issues with sewage sludge.

At the 2 October 2006 County Board of Supervisors hearing on the land application of sewage sludge, RLEP testified against the proposed immediate removal of the sludge ban and in favor of having strong County regulation in place simultaneous with any repeal of the ban. At the hearing, following the near-unanimous testimony from County citizens against immediate repeal of the ban, the Board of Supervisors reversed its previous decision to repeal the ban in favor of keeping it until a new County ordinance can be prepared and passed.

RLEP believes that strong regulation of the land application of sewage sludge should, at a minimum, require a local permitting process, extensive testing and monitoring of sludge content and sludge spreading, and permanent documentation in County land records. A local regulatory ordinance would better serve Rappahannock County citizens if it also provided for minimum setbacks from streams, ponds, rock outcrops, roads, property lines, wells, residences, feedlots, agricultural buildings, and other buildings, significantly greater than those modest setbacks specified in State regulation.