125 Airstrip Lane
P. O. Box 539
November 27, 2001
Dr. Robert Stroube, Acting Commissioner, VDH
P. O.
Box 2448
Richmond
VA 23218
I thank Dr.
Croonenberghs, by copy of this letter, for his rapid response of November 15 to
my letter of November 8 regarding the conflict of policy within VDH that I
identified. I am now responding directly to you because it is clear that the
Division of Shellfish Sanitation is not where the problem lies. On one hand,
the Division of Shellfish within VDH works hard to analyze our tidal waterways
for bacterial contamin-ation so as to permit the safe harvesting of oysters. On
the other hand, VDH also permits trillions of the same bacteria to be imported
into the county in each truck load of sewage sludge which is land applied to
our fields. Restricted waters impose economic hardship on some oyster-men and
on some citizens who lease state waters. The land application of sludge
provides a saving of only about $15.00/acre/year, as one farmer testified at a
VDH public hearing on April, 2002, in Heathsville. This small economic benefit
is only realized by the small minority of farmers who choose to request permits
to use sludge. For your convenience I enclose a copy of my original letter and
Dr. Croonenberghs’ reply.
Dr. Croonenberghs
did not contest my assertion that bacteria from land-applied sludge are a
source of contamination of our waterways. Thus I am glad we have at least taken
a positive first step. I do, however, object to his statement that I claim
solely that “…contamination of those growing waters will inevitably occur due
to weather-related runoff from the land.” Apparently I did not make myself sufficiently
clear. I believe the primary source of contamination is exactly the same one
thought to be responsible for natural contamination, namely wildlife,
especially birds. “Birds follow the plow”, as every farmer knows. As the sludge
is tilled into the land, according to our county ordinance, birds, especially
gulls, forage in the field. In coastal plain counties such as ours, waterways
are never far from fields, which can hardly be classified as “upland” in any
formal geographic sense. Because of the immense numbers of bacteria involved,
it is inevitable that wildlife will transport bacteria to our waterways and
contaminate them. This is not to say, of course, that runoff and/or wind might
not also be vectors under some weather conditions.
Dr. Croonenberghs stated “….the Code of Virginia, § 32.1 164.5, requires the
Department to develop regulations that allow the land application of
biosolids.” I believe his reading of the Code is incorrect. The Code of
Virginia states, in part: “B. The Board of Health, with the assistance of the
Departments of Environmental Quality and conservation and Recreation, shall
promulgate regulations to ensure that……(ii) land application, marketing and
distribution of sewage sludge is performed in a manner that will protect public
health and the environment, and (iii) the escape, flow or discharge of sewage
sludge into state waters, in a manner that would cause pollution of state
waters, as those are defined in § 62.1-44.3, will be prevented.” Nothing in the Code
directs VDH to “…develop regulations that allow the land application…” Quite to
the contrary, the Code demands that VDH “…promulgate regulations to ensure…”
that land application protects the public and the environment. Once it is
admitted that wildlife vectors do, in fact, permit “escape” of bacteria from
the land application of sewage sludge, contributing to “pollution of state
waters”, then VDH is clearly in violation of the Code of
Virginia for failing to deny permits for land application in tidewater
counties. The local land application of sewage sludge certainly contributes to
shellfish restrictions intended to protect the “public health and the
environment”.
The fact that VDH
appears to be in violation of the Code of Virginia, at least as I read the
intent of the Code, must to be resolved by VDH, by the General Assembly, by the
new Governor, or by the Courts. I look forward to a continued dialog on this
issue, from you or from any other responsible official(s), so as to resolve the
problem in the best interest of all citizens of tidewater counties and any
citizen of the State concerned about the health of the Chesapeake Bay and the
oyster fishery.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Lynton S. Land
Email: JandL@rivnet.net
(804) 453-6605
cc: Dr. Croonenberghs, VDH;
White Stone Office, VDH; DCR; DEQ; EPA; NAS’ Gov. Gilmore; Gov. elect Warner,
Del. Pollard; Sen. Chichester; Rep. Davis; Northumberland County Board of
Supervisors; Doug Jenkins; Lake Cowart; Calvin Keyser, Billy Dawson, E. E.
Delano.