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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989 Resolution No. 065RE.SOwrioo oo. iz5 SERIFS OF 1989 A RESOLUTIOO REXl(JESTING THE NATIOOAL LEAGUE OF CITIFS TO SUPPORT THE MANAGEl'IENT AND BENEFICIAL USE OF l·llNICIPAL 5rnl\GE SLUDGE RATHER THAN DISPOSAL. WHEREAS, the City of Engl"""'°d and the City of Littleton treat nunicipal sewage for population in the excess of 200,000; and NHEREAS, it is a goal of the City of Engl~ and the City of Littleton to establish and maintain a nunicipal sewage sludge beneficial use program that pro tects the public health and t.'1e environment fran any reasonably anticipated adverse effects; and ll'HCREAS, results o f scientific studies by Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station have shown that nunicipal sewage sludge is a good source of many required plant nutrients; and l'IHEREAS, the standards for dispcsal of sewage sludge set forth in proposed rule as found at 40 C.F.R. Parts 257 and 503, discourage beneficial use of municipal sewage sludge by inµ,sing guidelines that are so strict and s o on e rous that very few Publicly o,med Treatment Work's will be able to make beneficial use o f municipal sewage sludges in agricultura l applications; and WHEREAS, the E.?.A. Region VIII has selected the Littleton/Englewood Bi-City Plant Was t ewater Treatment Plant as a wiMer of t.~e Region VIII Bene ficial Sewage Sludge Use Award; and 1·n!EREAS, if the proposed regulations are adopted , the Littleton/Englewood Bi-Ci ty Plant would require the use of 10 times the arrount of land it curre ntly is us ing and the use would not be for agricultural benefit, because the sludge would not be beneficial to agricultural users in the arrounts p roposed; and WHEREAS, the Enviro111rental Protection Agency, State Health Departments and PO!W' s have much experience in sites specific analysis and decision making. Beneficial use awlication should be r,ncouraged and sites specific analysis should be the process of awroval. IU'i THEREFOOE, BE IT RESOJNID BY THE CITY CXXJNCIL OF THE CITY OF ~. COLORADO, THAT: 'nle City of Engl~ requests the National League of Cities Policy on municipal sewage sludge include the following elarents: Section l. Standards for the disposal of sewage sludge adopted by the Envirorurental Protection ~2rcy as set forth in proposed Rule fow,d at 40 C.F.R . parts 257 and 50 3, nust encourage the beneficial use of llllllicipal sewage s ludge by land awlication. section 2. 'nlat the Envirorurental Protection ~ercy, in determining c riteria for beneficial use in land application, slxluld use a risk assessnent s tandard which takes into accow,t acceptable levels of risk that are quantifiable; and section 3. 'nlat beneficial use should require site specific analysis in order to maximize beneficial use and maximize safety to protect the public he alth and the envirorurent frcrn any reasonable anticipated adverse effects of certain pollutants which may be present in sewage sludge. ADOPI'ED AND APPROVED this 20th day of Noventier, 1989. Attest: ~ (_, aC✓X-k-1a4-(,(I Patricia H. Crow, City Clerk I, Patricia H. Crow, City Clerk for the City of Engleo.«Xld, Colorado, hereby certify the above is a true copy :,f Resolution No . 6..,, Series of 1989. ~,~JI~✓ Patricia H. Crow FOSrmll PAl'l!R I. 'Ihe citie s of Englewood and Littleton serve a population of over 200,000 persons, is carposed of a service area of nearly 74 square miles, and operate a sewage treatlll!nt plant under a j oint operating agreement. 'Ihe Bi-City Wastewater ~'reatlll!nt Plant, as it is ccmronly referred to, is a 35 M'.,D secondary treatlll!nt plant . 'lhe cities own 980 acres of wheat land on which they have conducted a beneficial use program. II . The cities have erri:larked upon an aggressive beneficial use program that has been .i.n effect, for agricultural purposes, since 1983 . The Beneficial Use Program is perfonred in accordance with the Colorado Ilepartm:mt of Health Dares tic sewage Sludge Regulations . III. The Bi-City Wastewater Treatlll!nt Plant s ludge is classified as a Grade II sludge by the Colorado Depart!!ent of Health, due to the copper and zinc content; Grade I limitations of copper and zinc are 625 mg /kg and 1250 mg/kg r e spectively. 'Ihe Bi-City Wastewater Treatlll!nt Plant sludge copper concentration is typically 950 mg/kg and zinc concentration i s typically 1500 mg /kg. All of the other constit uents are well below the Grade I limitation. Monitoring Proqram: '!he citie s rronitoring of the beneficial use program i s an ongoing project. Sludge analysis i s perfonred daily for volatile solids and clewat ered cake, 3 tirres per week for volatile acids , and rronthly carposite for nutrients and rretals. Plant issue and soil sanples are perfonred at ai:,;,ropriate tirres for each approved site. Groundwater analysis is also perforr.ed at one site for t esting and res earch purposes. Centrifu,0 e operation is constantly rronitored in order to optimize unit efficiency, as well as to provide an acceptable level o f product quality. v. Training: Training activi ties extend to pretreatlll!nt activities, centrifuge optimization, beneficial use requiren-ents and operation, drivers s afety training and personnel safety training. Gperations and Laboratory personnel are provided industrial pretreatlll!nt training to assist in the pretreatlll!nt program, to ensure collection systems and plant safety, and to maintain plant operation , stream quality and sludge quality. 41 e Training in beneficial use is provided to division personnel on regulatory requirerrents, program operation, equiprent usage and !Mintenance, safety and public relations t o ensure an effective program. VI, 'l1ie Cities have, on a regular basis, engaged Colorado State University to evaluate the application of anaerobically digested sewage sludge to dry land winter ..neat. "Research has shCM!l that application of Jl'llllicipal sludge to dry land winter ..neat is a feasible disposal and nutrient recycling option for cities along the front range of Colorado." Af3?lication of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge To Dry Land Winter Wheat, by Lerch, Barberick, Westfall, Follett, Mcbride, CMen, fran the Agricultural Experinent Station Cooperative Extension Depart!rent Of Agronany Technical Report TR88-8 Colorado State university. VII. nie problem with the current regulations , as 1,1Jblishec in the Federal Register M:Jnday February 6, 1989, 40 C.F .R. Parts 25 7 and 503, establishing proposed standard for disposal of sewage sludge would require the cities of Englewood and Littleton to use, instead of the current approximately 800 acres, approximately 8,000 to 10,000 acres for the disposal of similar quality and quantity sludge. 'l1ie second problem is that application under the proposed rule would be approximately 1,000 pounds of sludge per year per acre, this quantity of sludge would not sufficiently provide nutrients for the farming operation. The consequence of this redu:,ed quantity is that it is of no benefit for agricultural purposes, thus leading to t,,,o results: 1. B?neficial use would in effect becane a disposal operation. 2 . Since sludge applied at the rate of 1,000 pounds per year per acre is of no value, it would not be feasible to use farming operations for disposal. VIII. If application of sewage sludge low in trace netals is based upon the end needs of a crop, very little potential for health or environnental problems due to trace netals will exist (U.S. E.P.A., 1983). 'l1ie i.npact of potentially toxic trace retals can be further reduced by growing crops which do not accumulate these netals in edible portions of plant and by applying sludges to soils with near neutral or higher ph's (Logan and Chaney, 1983), Af3?lication of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge To Dry Land Winter lh!at, by Lerch, Barberick, Westfall, Follett, Mcbride, CMen, fran the Agricultural Experinent Station Cooperative Extension Depart!rent Of Agronany Technical Report TR88-8 Colorado State University. Consequently, the site specific analysis becanes ilrportant as to type of crq,s, type of land, location and a myriad of other factors that are relevant in determining feasibility for beneficial use. e IX, One of the key purposes of the City of Fllglewood and City of LittlP.1:on Beneficial Use Program is to establish a demand for the product by developing a sludge that is of high quality and developing land awlication techniques that obtain maxi.rrum use of the product in agricultural setting. A result is the creation of valuable resource that is envirorarentally safe, publicly acceptable, econanically attractive to the citizens served by Littleton/Englewood Bi-r:ity Wastewater Treatrrent Plant, the farming agricultural oannunity and the grain using public.