Let me tell you a story. In the early 1980s, I was on a steering committee that was trying to decide what to do with the septage produced by escalating rural development. The conclusion was more land application. Then, as now, when people heard that term, they envisioned the contents of their toilet dumped on agricultural fields. The Pennsylvania legislature responded by passing stringent land application regulations.

To prove the laws were excessive, the Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture did a study eventually confirming that Class B biosolids could be land-applied on poorer soils with higher groundwater levels without the material ever reaching the water table. NAWT provided the septage and did the application. At one demonstration for officials and the public, I saw the Delaware Valley dean arrive late and begin to walk toward us. I met him halfway in a field to explain that the program had started.

“Where are you going to apply the septage?” he asked.

“You’re standing in the middle of it,” I said. “Minutes before you arrived, this field was spread with lime-stabilized septage.” It made a dramatic point, because the liquid wasn’t even dry yet and he didn’t have a clue it was there. Clearly not what one would expect.

To counteract federal and state legislation allowing land application of Class B biosolids, Pennsylvania townships began trying to outlaw the practice. Although they lost the ensuing court case, municipalities nationwide can still make land application unappealing through stifling regulations, paperwork, weight limitations on roads, and taxation.

The point of this story is twofold. On June 22-23, the National Association of Wastewater Transporters will partner with the Pennsylvania Septage Management Association, the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association, and the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association to sponsor a two-day land application workshop in Shippensburg, Pa. While anyone may attend, our intent is to invite officials to see that land application is a safe, neat, and clean operation.

After morning classroom sessions, we’ll bus attendees to a live demonstration of land-applied sewage sludge from an anaerobic digester and lime-stabilized septage.

The demonstration site is next to 300 houses. The only time owner Bill Neidigh receives a few complaints is when the farmer next door spreads manure and homeowners assume that the septic guy is responsible. Neidigh screens the septage, then adds lime before the mixture goes to a 300,000-gallon storage tank. He retains a contractor to apply the material before the crops are planted or after they’re harvested. Using 6,300-gallon land-application vehicles, the contractor empties the storage tank in five hours.

The second day is for those who want to learn more about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Part 503 requirements and actual operations, including calculating loading rates and recordkeeping.

TRAVELING WASTE TREATMENT WORKSHOP

The second point of my story is the new NAWT traveling waste treatment workshop. It’s a classroom environment with a trainer, a tour of a working septage treatment facility, and possibly some vendors. Our goal is to present it several times a year in different parts of the country for an economical cost.

The first workshop is Oct. 6-7 at the Sierra Septic Treatment Facility in Sutter Creek, Calif. Dean Trevaskis is the owner. Because we’ll invite local officials to witness that the concept works, the program will start late Thursday morning and finish at noon on Friday. That way people can travel from work, stay overnight, and return home the second day to minimize expenses.

Unfortunately, many haulers are still uncertain as to how the concept works. When I opened my first facility, a few of them went to the municipal treatment plant and said, “We’d like to set up so we can dump here like Tom Ferrero.” They had no idea that I was discharging treated septage. I think they believed that they would open a shop, discharge down a drain, and let it go straight to the sewer.

That story is probably why haulers tell me, “I talked to my town officials and they won’t let me build a facility.” If pumpers don’t know what they are going to do or understand the process, they can’t present it accurately and officials will shoot them down. I ask callers if there is a moratorium preventing them from building the facility or if the municipal plant is at capacity and can’t accept additional flow. Or, is it because officials don’t understand what they’re talking about? If it’s the latter explanation, it’s time to attend a traveling workshop and the Waste Treatment Symposium.

The education gap also exists at the municipal level. The U.S. EPA pretreatment coordinator’s list server had a discussion regarding someone who wanted to develop a septage treatment facility to pretreat and discharge. The municipal operator was afraid of receiving grease and metals in his plant. Other operators replied that they had no trouble with the private facilities using them, and posted the analytical breakdown of the discharges. I believe the respondents helped one hauler get his foot in the door.

LEARNING CURVE

One thing we learned at the 2010 Waste Treatment Symposium is that the field trip needs better organization. Attendees complained that if they were in a discussion group around one piece of equipment, they missed some or all of the information on other equipment. At the workshop and future symposia, we’ll break attendees into groups and walk them from one piece of equipment to another while tying it to the classroom sessions.

REVAMPING AND RESTRUCTURING

During this year, the Bylaws Committee will revamp our bylaws. One consideration will be restructuring the Board of Directors. NAWT was formed as a national organization comprised of state associations, but some states don’t have associations. Instead, we have independent members from all states. Many would make good board members, only we have no way of making that happen until we change the bylaws. The committee is looking at models that would fit our organization, then it will present them to the board.

MOVING ON

After seven consecutive years as NAWT’s executive director, I’m stepping down in May to work more in my son’s business. Serving the association has been a wonderful experience and I thank the board for allowing me to have it. I’ll remain NAWT’s secretary, a position I’ve held for almost 20 years, and work on committees. For example, I’m on the Executive Director Search Committee. It will recommend to the board the dedicated individual who will take NAWT to the next level.