Northumberland Association for Progressive StewardshipBrainardRita Johnson202004-06-25T19:39:00Z2007-02-10T17:48:00Z2007-02-10T17:48:00Z1667038025316894460611.5604Northumberland Association for Progressive StewardshipNorthumberland is going to grow. Let’s help it grow with order and beauty.NAPS NEWSSummer 2004 Volume 13, Issue 3Stewardship TipMarsh grass plantingBy Lynton LandNAPS has nearly completed spring marsh grass planting for 2004. Grants from Fish America and the Chesapeake Bay License Plate Fund allowed NAPS to purchase 16,000 plants, including four species, at a cost of $9285. Thirty seven sites received grass, ranging from a single flat (50 plants) to many flats.Why are marsh grasses so important as a part of stewardship? There are many reasons.Marsh grasses help to trap sediment and stabilize shorelines. Erosion is inevitable, caused by sea level rise of about 4 mm each year (2 mm of global sea level rise plus 2 mm of land subsidence here in Virginia.) Almost any kind of shoreline can be stabilized as long as there is substrate available above mid tide, and plenty of sunlight. Beaches with moderate to low wave energy can be “pinned” in place by the dense rhizomes (roots) of a lush stand of grass. Hurricane Isabel redistributed sand, creating new spits and beaches and widening others. These “new” beaches are all candidates for stabilization as long as wave energy is not too high. The trick is to get the grass started before boat wakes or waves tear up the new plants. Perseverance pays off! NAPS re-established grass on the beach at Olverson’s marina this spring, in part to rectify hurricane damage to a previous planting effort.Marshes also provide food, habitat and sanctuary for a variety of marine organisms, especially juvenile crabs and fish. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV), which only grows below low tide, once provided large amounts of habitat, but it is only 10% as abundant as it was once. We cannot guarantee the return of SAV until we clear the water by reducing the amount of fertilizer added to our waterways, but we can increase marsh grass habitat.Marsh plants also intercept the groundwater and runoff discharging from the land. Within the dense rhizome mat, microbes convert nitrate, which acts as fertilizer, to harmless nitrogen gas. This is exactly the same process, called Biological Nitrogen Removal (BNR), installed in sewage treatment plants to lower the amount of nitrate in the wastewater stream. As we all know, it is the excess nitrate and phosphate entering our waterways via runoff and groundwater discharge that is responsible for the terrible water quality in our waterways and the Bay. Marsh plants denitrify (accomplish BNR) for free!A diverse assemblage of marsh grasses is much more desirable than a monoculture of Phragmites. Invasive Phragmites is very common, and can be recognized by dense stands of high plants (6 feet or more), and its (often) purple, feathery seed-heads in the fall. See the NAPS Stewardship Tip at www.napsva.org for more information. If you’ve got Phragmites, contact Lynton Land (453-6605 or JandL@rivnet.net) to get on the growing list (we now have over 50 “clients”) for fall spraying. We planted marsh grass this spring at several sites where the property owner could not see their pier last summer because of the dense Phragmites. Now, not only is the pier visible, but a healthy expanding marsh exists, containing several species of grass with more food value for wildlife and a more diverse habitat for marine organisms. The small amounts of Phragmites that remain will require spraying for several years as the new marsh plants establish themselves.How can you tell if marsh plants will grow on a shoreline? Wait until about mid-tide, when the water level is just at the base of the stems of the seaward-most marsh plants nearby. Any substrate exposed at that level of the tide can be colonized by marsh plants IF: 1) full sunlight is present at least part of the day, and 2) wave action is not too severe. There are many places where limbs and brush have grown out over the bank, shading the water. Pruning the overhanging limbs and brush to allow sunlight to penetrate will result in slow, natural colonization by marsh grasses, or permit successful planting. There are many eroding cliffs where erosion can be slowed by ensuring that sunlight reaches the base of the cliff so that marsh plants can become established. If all waterways, where possible, were bordered by marsh plants, water quality would improve. Healthy marshes foster healthy waterways.It is not too early to decide to plant grasses next year, and NAPS plans to submit another grant. So if you want to participate in grass planting and/or Phragmites control, or if you need more information, contact a NAPS board member, whose names can be found at our web site www.napsva.org along with Stewardship Tips and links to other organizations.Holley TrailsBy Ralph BrainardBob Holley, who is our Treasurer on Leave is busy on the Appalachian Trail (AT) walking from the southern end to the Northern End. I had the privilege of reading the notes by George Taquino who spent a long time with Bob on the trail. I know that Bob left here in March to start his walk. His son Robert took him to the trail-head in Western Georgia. He and George met soon after and apparently walked approximately together.First, the bad news. Monday, April 26 Bob, known as Wicomico Walker (WW), fell off a ledge. George saw it happen. WW landed on his back and managed to hit his head on the way. This left his behind sore and there was a small cut on his head. George’s note says “These old guys keep falling down!” George is only 61 years old and also a retired teacher.That’s not all. Friday, May 7 WW fell again. He landed on his back, on his pack, and got a small bruise. George’s statement, “He falls and gets hurt but just gets up and goes again. Then Wednesday, May 19 he fell again. He tripped and fell on his face with a scratched nose and bruise under his eye. He was sliding down the mountain until he grabbed a small tree. Thursday, May 20 George wrote “...30 yards behind WW. I happened to look up just in time to see him fly through the air and disappear. When I got there he was lying off the trail where a dead tree stopped him from sliding down the mountainside.On the other hand the good news was the trail. There were beautiful heart-warming times also. Now it was not all peaches and cream. Even in the very South part of the trail in the mountains it was cold and snowy (this may account for some of the falls). When it got warmer as the year progressed the snow changed to rain and still made life miserable at times. But between these two there were all the warm sunny days with the flowers blooming and the leaves coming out with all their different shades of green. One doesn’t have to be a thru hiker to appreciate such.George’s closing thought, after mentioning that he and Bob were splitting on the trail, was that “remember the picture I took of what I thought was a ground hog climbing a tree.. I found out it was probably a baby bear. I wonder where the mother was.”WW is ahead of his own schedule and may be home by Labor Day.Northumberland County Welcome SignsBy Mike HarwoodPast President, NAPSOn May 13 I presented the NAPS plan for constructing “Welcome to Northumberland County” signs along Routes 360, 202 and 200 to the Board of Supervisors. The NAPS board had approved the proposal at its May 11 Board meeting. I told the BOS that we proposed to raise the money for the signs, and would be responsible for erecting and maintaining them. I told the board that I had been in touch with the Virginia Department of Transportation official responsible for roadside signs, who advised me of the advantages of the signs being authorized by the County as “official signs” as opposed to those used for advertising.The Board agreed that the signs were a good idea and thanked NAPS for its work on this project, but said county government would rather do the signs itself. This is good news. I offered NAPS assistance when the project gets underway.Education CommitteeBy Joel StubbsOn April 22, 2004 Myrtle Phillips, Education Chairman, Susan Stubbs and Joe Thompson, members of the Education Committee, interviewed 12 students for the NAPS Scholarships. Don Pumroy was also present for one of the interviews. The five students selected were: James Carter, Sieria Pollock, Roslyn Haynie, Jessica Dull, and Grant Orem. The scholarships were given at the Awards Night ceremony May 21. School Nature TrailBy Mike HarwoodClint Stables met with Mike Harwood regarding the creation of a nature path behind the elementary school in the woods which would identify trees, etc. It is hoped the FFA, Scouts, and other county groups would also be involved. We need someone with an engineering background to lay out the path. Patty Long, who is in charge of tourism, is looking into grant money. The board agreed NAPS would like to be involved in a supervisory role.Nature Trails in NorthumberlandBy Audrey BrainardClint Stables, Superintendent of Northumberland Public Schools, called a meeting of interested groups and individuals to determine interest and feasibility in establishing trails on the school property that extends from the Middle School on Route 360 all along Academic Lane past the elementary school parking lot and into the woods at the end of the gravel road. Twelve individuals attended and all agreed it was ‘an idea waiting to happen’ or ‘why hadn’t it been done?’ It was agreed that the trails should be for; education of children and adults, a fitness trail for those needing a place to walk, a place for the Cross Country Track Team to practice and of course for enjoyment by all the residents. A working meeting was set to walk the trails. The group quickly discovered penetrating the woods was difficult and once inside the poison ivy at eye level had to be avoided. The original track team trail was not located and most likely obliterated by Hurricane Isabel. It was easy to enter at one place and after up and down steep banks and over wet terrain find yourself exiting the woods not too many feet from your entrance. An active beaver dam was discovered as well as a carpet of partridge berry, blooming spotted wintergreen, false hellebore, ginger and many fern species as well as large old beech and oak trees. The conclusion after three hours of hiking was the property had great potential and trails should be laid out and clearedApril 30 Board of Health MeetingBy Mike HarwoodChairman, NAPS Sewage Sludge Study GroupFollowing the January 30 BOH meeting that Myrtle Phillips and I attended, I sent e-mails to BOH Chairman Dr. Jack Lanier and Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Robert Stroube complaining that at every BOH meeting I had attended and at which I had spoken, Dr. Stroube and his staff left prior to the public comment periods at the end of the meetings, even though the meetings typically ended ahead of schedule. Dr. Stroube responded to me with excuses for himself and his staff for the January 30 meeting, saying that each one had to be somewhere else. I noticed that for the fist time, Dr. Stroube and his staff remained for the public comments at the April 30 meeting. The best news is that we had 15 anti-sludge people there with representation from Northumberland, Prince Edward, Campbell, Cumberland, Louisa, Loudoun and Shenandoah Counties. The increase from 5 or 6 anti-sludge attendees is the direct result of a new coalition being formed with Prince Edward County in the lead. It is one of the several counties we are aware of that is getting its first taste of sludge. We have been providing them with names and e-mail addresses of our contacts, suggestions for questions to ask at VDH’s famous public information meetings on sludge land application, etc.Six of us spoke at the April 30 meeting. The main complaints, sometimes emotional and angry, involved lack of information about the contents of sludge, little or no public notice when it is to be land applied, and lack of enforcement of state regulations.I advised the BOH of the major violations of the State Biosolids Use Regulations that occurred during the March land application at James Garland’s farm, i.e., the excess of phosphorus in the sludge contrary to Section 500; and allowing cows to graze on the pastureland that had been spread just 22 days following application in violation of Section 570. I also mentioned several state highway commercial vehicle infractions. I asked how we can be expected to trust the contractors to apply safe levels of sludge when they are so irresponsible about carrying out these important regulations.I then reminded the BOH that SB 1088 passed last year by the General Assembly requires the VDH to review the Biosolids Use Regulations in light of the June 2002 National Research Council recommendations and the December 2003 EPA response to those recommendations. The deadline for the first report on this to the BOH and the General Assembly is June 30. The BOH will not reconvene until July 23. I said that we are looking forward to participating in this review process.When I finished, the Chairman asked if we had reported the infractions. I replied that we had reported the Biosolids Use Regulations infractions to the VDH and that I had been in contact with the Maryland and Virginia state police about the highway issues. Then the Chairman asked what the BOH could do for us. I asked that the BOH members keep these issues in mind during the upcoming review of the Biosolids Use Regulations.On May 1, I sent Chairman Lanier an e-mail, with a copy to Dr. Stroube, revising and extending my remarks to expand on the excess phosphorus issue as it affects Northumberland County and the Chesapeake Bay. I stressed the impact of further deteriorating the Bay’s water quality on our watermen and their families. I said that because of our close proximity to the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, what the BOH and VDH can do is treat our County as an exception and enforce Section 500 of the Biosolids Use Regulations regarding nutrient management plans and nitrogen and phosphorus loads. Chairman Lanier responded that my remarks would be provided to the Board and added to the minutes of the meeting. I sent this information to Secretary of Natural Resources Tayloe Murphy and asked him to speak up for us “in high places” in Richmond.NAPS Vice-President Dr. Lynton Land has been appointed to a nutrient management advisory committee by the Department of Conservation and Recreation to recommend action following a public comment period on this subject. Citizen ParticipationBy Mile HarwoodOne of NAPS primary goals is to work with the Northumberland County government for the betterment of our community. We try to have someone on the NAPS board attend every Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors meeting. Generally speaking, the NAPS representatives find themselves pretty much alone, except for local reporters and a few people with direct interest in the items to be discussed and decided. The NAPS board of directors encourages all of our members to attend as many of these meetings as possible. It will help our elected decision makers to know that many of us are interested in what they are deciding, and our attendance and input often influences the outcome of these meetings. So please make it a point to come. If policies are changed or permits granted and we citizens did not take the opportunity to get our two cents worth in, we have only ourselves to blame when our preferences are not reflected. And feel free to express your own feelings and conclusions. Of course, if you want to present a position on behalf of the NAPS board, be sure to get its approval in advance.The Planning Commission meets at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month in the conference room next to the County Administrator's office on the first floor of the old courthouse in Heathsville. If an overflow crowd is anticipated, the meetings are moved to one of the larger rooms. A sign will be posted on the front door of the old courthouse containing the change information. The Board of Supervisors conducts Board business from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on the second Thursday of each month in the new courthouse down the hill behind the old courthouse. The Board reconvenes at 7:00 for public hearings, which is when building permits, exceptional use permits, zoning issues and other such issues of special public interest are worked on. All public hearing items are published in the Northumberland Echo, the County's newspaper of record, and in the Rappahannock Record well in advance of the meetings. For more information and to have your name added to the Board of Supervisor agenda mailing list, check with County Administrator Kenny Eades' office at 580-7666.Exercise your civic responsibility and let your voice be heard at these important monthly meetings.Sludge Contains Toxic WasteFrom Charlotte Hartman, National Sludge Alliance.Sludge is defined as "a viscous, semisolid mixture of bacteria and virus-laden organic matter, toxic metals, synthetic organic chemicals, and settled solids removed from domestic and industrial wastewater at sewage treatment plants” [HCDES]. The sewage treatment plant process concentrates up to 90% of dioxins, toxic metals, pesticides, hazardous industrial and radioactive wastes, disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites in leftover sludge [IJEP, 1999]. Incredible as it seems, this toxic product is sold to the public as “soil fertilizer” and is spread on our farm and grazing lands; on school grounds, ball fields, parks and golf courses.From Oceans to Our CommunitiesAfter years of dumping sludge in our oceans, this practice ended in 1992 when the Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988 went into effect. This left municipalities and local governments with a new problem: how to get rid of the tons of sludge they generate on a daily basis. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stepped in with a plan to “solve” this problem by promoting sludge (sometimes called “biosolids,” a public relations term that is used interchangeably by EPA with the technical term “sewage sludge”) as fertilizer to be spread on land where people live, work and play. Their plan has allowed toxic chemicals into our air, water, soil, crops and into us.Serious Health EffectsThe past decade of applying sludge to land has resulted in contamination of farmland, parks, school grounds and water supplies. Many health problems, including deaths, have been linked to sludge exposure; some of these have been documented in medical and technical journals. [BMC, ES&T] Two wrongful death lawsuits have caused government officials and experts to sound the alert. The US Inspector General stated “While EPA promotes land application [of sludge], EPA cannot assure the public that current land application processes are protective of human health and the environment” [USIG]. Experts from EPA and Duke University cite increases in mortality risks for children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing heart conditions from sludge exposure [JOA]. Two children in Pennsylvania and a man in New Hampshire died from mysterious infections after sludge was spread near their homes. Lawsuits have been filed against the government for failing to adequately regulate sludge use. Adding to the toll on humans, sludge contaminates our drinking water and food supply and harms fish, wildlife, livestock and pets. It is impossible to “treat” sludge so that the toxic mix of heavy metals, synthetic organic compounds (e.g. dioxin and PCB’s), pathogens and radioactive contaminants in sewage sludge are rendered harmless. Whether it is called “biosolids” or sludge, treated or not, it is an unsafe material.BE SAFE'S FOUR PRINCIPLES1. HEED EARLY WARNING SIGNSWe must heed the early warning signs of health threats and widespread pollution from spreading sludge on our lands. Sludge can contain thousands of industrial waste products, including dozens of carcinogens, hormone disrupting chemicals, toxic metals, dioxins, radionuclides and other persistent poisons. We must prevent this toxic “hot potato” that used to be dumped in our oceans from poisoning our communities under the guise of cheap fertilizer. Several European countries have taken a precautionary approach to land application of sludge using the philosophy of “first, do no harm” to call for bans on its use.2. PUT SAFETY FIRSTLand application of sludge is equal to dumping toxic waste in our communities. It contaminates our water, air and land, and can poison people, our food supply and drinking water. The connection between harm to humans and the environment from exposure to sludge has been documented [Cornell]. We must put safety first and ban the land application of sewage sludge as is being done in Europe. Holland and Switzerland already have bans, and Sweden, France, Germany, Finland, and Luxembourg are calling for an end to this practice.3. EXERCISE DEMOCRACYLand application of sludge is about power and politics, not science or fertilizers. Sewage treatment plants were not designed to produce “fertilizer”. They produce a toxic sludge that needs to be properly disposed of. When sludge is spread on land, liability is transferred from the industries and municipalities that create and process it, to the landowners and farmers who spread it. We must call on the federal government to ban the land application of sludge and hold EPA accountable for failing to safely dispose of this toxic waste. We must adopt “zero discharges” policies to keep toxins out of sewers. And we must make industrial and commercial polluters responsible for the safe management of the wastes they generate, starting with the elimination of the Domestic Sewage Exemption of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which now allows the legal discharge of hazardous waste into sewers. (See Zero Waste Brochure)4. CHOOSE THE SAFEST SOLUTIONSSludge Information: National Sludge Alliance, Charlotte Hartman (chartmannsa@taconic.net) and Penny Newman (penny.n@ccaej.org). For information about sludge victims, contact Helane Shields (hshields@worldpath.net)BE SAFE Platform is coordinated by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. Contact us at CHEJ, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040, 703-237-2249, or 518-732-4538, or visit www.besafenet.comWebsites:Pennsylvania Environmental Network: www.penweb.org/issues/sludgeThe ReSource Institute for Low Entropy Systems: www.riles.org/library.htmLoudoun Neighbors Against Toxic Sludge: www.LoudonNATS.orgCornell Waste Management Institute: www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmiDr. David Lewis: members.aol.com/lewisdavel/Groups:Hundreds of grassroots groups are working to stop the land application of sludge, such as Citizens for a Future New Hampshire (NH), Coalition of Residents Organized for Political Self-expression (PA), Citizens Against Pollution (AL), TOXICS (MN), Safe Food and Fertilizer (WA), The Maine Sludge Alliance (ME), California Communities Against ToxicsNeighbors Against Toxic Sludge (VA), Blackland Prairie Concerned Citizens Association (TX), and the Kern Food Growers Against Sewage Sludge (CA). To get involved, contact environmental, food safety, or agriculture organizations near you and ask if they have a program to stop the land application of sludge. If they don’t, start one!At a time when the public has heightened concerns about biochemical and nuclear threats from outside forces, we certainly don’t need our own government to be foisting these same deadly poisons onto our parks and playgrounds, and onto food being grown for our dinner plates. Students Successfully Ban Use of Toxic SludgeColorado University students won a victory in their battle against a utility that was marketing sewage sludge containing nuclear and hazardous waste under the name “MetroGro.” Through the Colorado Open Records Act, students obtained documents revealing Denver’s Metro Wastewater Reclamation District distributed this radioactive and toxic sludge reclaimed from the nearby Lowry Landfill Superfund site without labels or warnings of any kind. The sludge had been sold to Colorado public schools, municipalities for use on parks and golf courses, and private parties seeking a cheap source of “fertilizer”. The Widefield School District was one of the largest sludge recipients, and when notified by students in 2001, refused any future shipments of MetroGro.For more information about a plan to turn radioactive Superfund wastes into “beneficial biosolids”, see Dirty Secrets, a Special Investigation by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eileen Welsome, at www.westword.com/issues/2001-04-12/ feature.html/1/index.htmlCoalition Seeks EPA Sludge BanA coalition of 73 labor, environmental, and farm groups on October 7, 2003 petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to place an immediate moratorium on the land application of sewage sludge and ultimately prohibit the practice. This action was taken after a Georgia court ruled that land application of sewage sludge - in compliance with EPA’s sludge rules - caused the deaths of 300 prized dairy cows at the Boyce family farm in Burke County, Georgia [Boyceland Dairy v. City of Augusta 2003.]. A formal denial of the Petition by EPA on December 31, 2003 contains misleading and inaccurate information that has renewed efforts by the Petitioners to ban the land application of sludge based on the facts presented in the petition. For more information: www.centerforfoodsafety.orgReferences:Harper-Collins Dictionary of Environmental Science (HCDES); Land Application of Sewage Sludge, International Journal of Environment & Pollution (IJEP), 1999; Biomed Central Public Health, 2002 2:11 [BMC]; Environmental Science & Technology, July 2002 [ES&T]; U.S. Inspector General Statement, April 2000 [USIG]; Journal of Agromedicine, Nov. 2000, Dr. Susan Schiffman, Duke University and Dr. John Walker, US EPA [JOA]; Cornell Waste Management Institute, Clustering of Biosolid Land-Application Alleged Health Incidents by Locality, http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi/Sludge/incidents.htm (Updated Feb. 10, 2003) [Cornell]; and Boyceland Dairy v. City of Augusta, NO. 2001-RCCV-126 Richmond County Super. CT, BE SAFE PlatformIn the 21st century, we envision a world in which our food, water and air are clean, and our children grow up healthy and thrive. Everyone needs a protected, safe community and workplace, and natural environment to enjoy. We can make this world vision a reality. The tools we bring to this work are prevention, safety, responsibility and democracy.Our goal is to prevent pollution and environmental destruction before it happens. We support this precautionary approach because it is preventive medicine for our environment and health. It makes sense to: Prevent pollution and make polluters, not taxpayers, pay and assume responsibility for the damage they cause;Protect our children from chemical and radioactive exposures to avoid illness and suffering;Promote use of safe, renewable, non-toxic technologies;Provide a natural environment we can all enjoy with clean air, swimmable, fishable water and stewardship for our national forests.Platform PrinciplesHEED EARLY WARNINGSGovernment and industry have a duty to prevent harm, when there is credible evidence that harm is occurring or is likely to occur even when the exact nature and full magnitude of harm is not yet proven.PUT SAFETY FIRSTIndustry and government have a responsibility to thoroughly study the potential for harm from a new chemical or technology before it is used rather than assume it is harmless until proven otherwise. We need to ensure it is safe now, or we will be sorry later. Research on impact to workers and the public needs to be confirmed by independent third parties.EXERCISE DEMOCRACYPrecautionary decisions place the highest priority on protecting health and the environment, and help develop cleaner technologies and industries with effective safeguards and enforcement. Government and industry decisions should be based on meaningful citizen input and mutual respect (the golden rule), with the highest regard for those whose health may be affected and for our irreplaceable natural resources not for those with financial interests. Uncompromised science should inform public policy.CHOOSE THE SAFEST SOLUTIONDecision-making by government, industry and individuals must include an evaluation of alternatives, and the choice of the safest, technically feasible solutions. We support innovation and promotion of technologies and solutions that create a healthy environment and economy, and protect our natural resourcesTake precautionary action and ban land application of sludge. Sign onto the BE SAFE Platform. Be counted when we deliver this national platform to the White House in 2005. Endorse the platform today at www.besafenet.com. BE SAFE is coordinated by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. To sign the platform or for more information, contact CHEJ, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040, 703-237-2249, or 518-732-4538, or visit the Website at www.besafenet.com.Protect the BayBy Lynton Land & Mike HarwoodThe time is long overdue for every citizen of the Chesapeake Bay watershed to understand that agricultural practices are, by far, the most important sources of pollution of the Bay and of our local waterways. This is a scientific fact which has been known since the Bay Act was written, but it has not been emphasized because of socioeconomic and other kinds of arguments (i.e., agricultural and urban politics).The recent "Tributary Strategies" are a good place to find the facts (www.naturalresources.virginia.gov). The "Tributary Strategies" are not a good place to find the solution to the nutrient problem because the "strategies" target most financial resources toward much less important sources of pollution than agriculture. For example, the Strategies for the Eastern Shore