Unsafe sewage sludge or beneficial biosolids?: Liability, planning, and management issues regarding the land application of sewage treatment residuals

Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, Summer 1999 by Goldfarb, William, Krogmann, Uta

8 Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988, 33 U.S.C. .423 1401-1445 (1994 & Supp. III 1997). 9 See Reagan Signs Law Restricting Ocean Disposal of Sewage Sludge, Industrial, Medical Wastes, 19 Env't Rep. (BNA) 1484 1485 (Nov. 25, 1988).

10 See id.

11 See id.

12 See id.

13 See George Ravenscroft, Managing a Special Waste: Sewage Sludge, N.J. EFFLUENTS, Mar. 1992, at 3.

14 See Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge, 58 Fed. Reg. 9248, 9249 (1993). 15 See id. at 9337-38. 16 See id. at 9346.

17 See Ravenscroft, supra note 13, at 15.

te,See Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge, 40 C.ER 503.32 (1998). 19 See generally Uta Krogmann & Lisa S. Boyles, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Land Application of Sewage Sludge (Biosolids), Pathogens (1999) (unpublished fact sheet on file with authors).

2 See 58 Fed. Reg. at 9351. 21 See 40 C.FR. . 503.48.

9 See Nora Goldstein & Kevin Gray, Biosolids Composting in the United States, 39 BIOCYCLE 63, at 63 (Jan. 1999).

23 See Ravenscroft, supra note 13, at 5.

24 A bill was introduced in the New York State Legislature requiring that all fruits and vegetables grown with sewage sludge-derived-products be labeled. See Legislation Would Require Labeling of Food Grown on Sludge Fertilized Land, 28 Env't Rep. (BNA) 485, 485 (July 11,1997). A sewage sludge-derived- product is sewage sludge that has been treated and then altered, either physically or chemically, to be put into a form that can be marketed to the general public. Some of these products are advanced alkaline stabilized sewage sludge, composted sewage sludge and pelletized sewage sludge. See Biosolids Working Group of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Guidelines for Land Application of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture (Oct. 1998) (unpublished draft on file with authors).

25 For example, a 192-acre landfill in West Virginia in which large amounts of sewage sludge imported from other states were converted to compost was held to be a public nuisance and ordered closed. See West Virginia Land,fill Ordered Closed Because of Failure By Owner to Control Odor, 27 Env't Rep. (BNA) 896, 896 (Aug. 16,1996). 2 See Goldstein & Gray, supra note 22, at 74. 27 See Ravenscroft, supra note 13, at 5.

28 See id. at 5, 15. 29 See id. at 15.

a Cement kiln dust is a controversial hazardous waste and its generators are regulated under RCRA. See Regulatory Determination-Cement Kiln Dust, 43 Env't Rep. (BNA) 1705 (Jan. 10, 1997).

31 See Ravenscroft, supra note 13, at 5. 1e See id 1 See id.

4 See id at 5, 16. 3 See id. at 5.

.423 See Edgar et al., supra note 7, at 484, 492.

37 See id. at 4888.

rE See NJ. STAT. ANN. S 13:lE-42 (West 1998).

3 See Bob Brown, King of the Heaps: Ever-Growing Landfills Achieve New Heights, WASTE NEWS, Oct. 26, 1998, at 5.

40 See Goldstein & Gray, supra note 22, at 66-67. 41 See D.R. REINHART & T.G. TWNsEND, LANDFILL BIOREACTOR DESIGN AND OPERATION 149 (1997).

4 See id. at 1, 105.

4 See Uta Krogmann et al., Biosolids and Sludge Management, 70 WATER ENv. RESEARCH 557, 557 (1998).

' See Edgar et al., supra note 7, at 484, 492. 45 See 68 Fed. Reg. at 9260.