October 2024 - Executive Director’s Report to MABA Members
There is an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” And although its origins have been analyzed and studied, its meaning is clear, and it is at the heart of my message to the board and the members this month. I’ll share herein the wealth of activities and initiatives taking place in the MABA committees and leadership, and the great momentum they are building to push further into our collective biosolids future and path ahead.
The Communications Committee has led the way to organize a National Biosolids Communication Workgroup consisting of multiple regional biosolids organizations across the country to develop the National Communication Guidance: PFAS and Biosolids Management communication document to share with their respective members to assist with their communications about PFAS & Biosolids.
Additionally, the Communications committee has created a MABA Member Communications survey to get feedback from the members about the communication efforts and help develop their next steps for the year ahead. They are also working to create new and revised FAQ and fact sheet documents for the MABA members on the website, and have so far created “What are biosolids?” and “Information for farmers about PFAS in biosolids”. The Committee will also be introducing “MABA Merch” in the months ahead, for members to have a chance to purchase clothing and other products with the MABA and MABF logos.
The MABA Membership Committee has worked diligently to reach out to current public utility members to touch base, and learn more about their experiences with and services needed from MABA. They’ve also brought on board 4 new public utility members and 3 new sponsors. They have worked to offer reduced membership fees as an incentive to bring new members on board, and are requesting the members’ assistance in identifying additional potential members with the Public Utility Leads survey.
MABA’s Reg/Leg Committee has stayed abreast of many developments across the region, as well as nationally, to keep MABA’s leadership and members aware of the updates and information available from a regulatory and legislative perspective. Recently, information gathered has resulted in the creation of a letter in support of legislation in Pennsylvania to ban PFAS in some consumer products. Additionally, the committee has worked to remain updated on regulations and execution of new regulations in New York and recently in Maryland. Stay tuned for a full Reg/Leg email update in the weeks ahead.
The MABA Programming Committee hosted an incredibly successful 2024 Summer Symposium in Richmond, Virginia in July, resulting in additional net revenue for the organization while providing rich education and networking opportunities for the members in the region. They are charging ahead with the September 24 webinar, Biosolids End Use Success Stories, and the Communications Committee is working with them to further share these success stories through the October 23 webinar with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Another webinar is planned for November, as well as the opening of the Call for Abstracts for the 2025 Summer Symposium, taking place in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in July.
And finally, I continue to deliver presentations to different groups to provide a comprehensive update on PFAS and Biosolids, from a regulatory, legislative and research perspective. Recently, I presented at the Society of Women Environmental Professional’s PFAS Seminar at Eurofins Laboratories in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and at Tri-Con, in Ocean City, Maryland, as well as the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association annual conference in September, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And I will be presenting at the NJWEA Technology Transfer Seminar in October, in Eatontown, New Jersey. I provided the same session via webinar to the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) on October 1, and will provide it again for the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association (PMAA) on November 6. These speaking opportunities have afforded me the opportunity to share critical information and updates to the biosolids community and the communities we serve, and spread the word about MABA and MABF.
In NPR’s analysis of the aforementioned African proverb, they spoke to Neal Lester, a humanities professor at Arizona State University who specializes in African-American literary studies. Lester stated, “The Africanist perspective is more about community, it's more about collaboration. It's less about what we can do individually." And this essence of the meaning of the proverb is in line with this message to the MABA board and members, the region’s biosolids community. There is an incredible amount of energy and work taking place in the MABA community and the biosolids community in our region right now, and I invite you to get on board and get involved to press forward, further, together.
If you are interested in learning more about MABA and MABF, or setting up some time to talk or get together, please reach out to me at [email protected] or 845-901-7905. |
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Biosolids NewsClips - February 4, 2025
NewsClips is brimming with updates from across the biosolids and wastewater industries. This month’s edition is highlighted by the release of the U.S. EPA’s draft results for the Risk Assessment of PFOA and PFOS in biosolids along with articles detailing innovations and ongoing challenges from within the wastewater industry. The draft Risk Assessment results are included in this month’s edition along with notable articles detailing various regional and national media responses to the highly anticipated draft results.
As a reminder, MABA, together with sister biosolids organizations nationwide, developed the National Communication Guidance: PFAS and Biosolids Management document. This resource, shared with members in previous months, is designed to help navigate these discussions and provide strategies for effective communication within the communities you serve.
This edition also features articles detailing notable updates from within the Mid-Atlantic region including discussions with the biosolids experts at DC Water, funding for waste-to-fuel projects administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the start of capital improvement projects at the Hampstead WWTP in Maryland; as well as national news stories on the regulatory and public perception challenges surrounding the beneficial use of biosolids.
As always, MABA is committed to keeping members informed and engaged. If you have biosolids news to share or would like to join the Communications Committee, please contact Mary Baker at 845-901-7905 or [email protected].
Biosolids News
(as of January 29, 2025)
MABA Region
Earth911 Podcast: DC Water Goes Bloom With Biosolids-Based Fertilizers
Washington, DC (6 Jan 2025) - Start the new year with a dive into the world of biosolids—a potentially transformative way to turn sewage that traditionally is seen as waste into a valuable material for sustainable agriculture. With the appropriate precautions, humans can turn our ickiest stuff into inexpensive fertilizer for farms and homes. Humans have been using their excrement as fertilizers for millennia. At scale, biosolids-based fertilizer would be a big step toward comprehensive circular approaches to human waste. However, it is a plan with challenges related to the presence of PFAS, the forever chemicals attracting growing concern as they are found in everyone’s bodies only about 90 years after they were invented. Detailed within the article are conversations with Chris Peot, the Director of Resource Recovery at Bloom, and April Thompson, Senior Director of the program operated by DC Water, the public utility responsible for providing drinking water and wastewater collection and treatment services in the nation’s Capital.
Wonder why your water bills keep going up? Take a look at outsourcing at DPW
Baltimore, MD (8 Jan 2025) - The seemingly endless crisis of running Baltimore’s water and wastewater system came into focus again today when the Board of Estimates reauthorized two contracts. Itineris NA will continue to supply technicians – many of them coming from Atlanta, Ga., and staying in city-paid lodging – to handle the high-tech UMAX water billing system. And critical operations at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant will remain outsourced in the hands of certified operators from a Harford County outfit called Professional Startup & Operating Services (Prostart). The cost of these two vendors, filling blue-collar jobs once performed by Department of Public Works employees, has soared to $75 million due to extensions and augmentations.
DOE doles out $6.9M for organic waste-to-biofuels projects
Washington, DC (10 Jan 2025) - The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and Vehicle Technologies Office are funding nine projects that convert organic waste into transportation fuels, the agency announced this week. The projects will recapture the energy from food waste, dairy cow manure and municipal wastewater sludge and solids. The grants are meant to help projects through the initial feasibility study and design phases so the projects can advance. Later funding could help bring projects to the construction and operation phases.
Hampstead Wastewater Treatment Plant inspectors hired to oversee improvements
Hampstead, MD (13 Jan 2025) - Improvements to the Hampstead Wastewater Treatment Plant are moving forward starting with the hiring of full-time inspectors to oversee the project. The Board of Carroll County Commissioners at their meeting Thursday unanimously approved the hiring of Kumi Construction Management Corporation of Washington, D.C., for an amount not to exceed $270,974.70. A new “sludge press” is planned that will improve the production process and meet the requirements for a discharge permit issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment. Other improvements include work to the maintenance building, pump station and roadway entrance.
EPA Announces $2.4 million in Funding to 24 Small Businesses for the Development of Environmental Technologies
Washington, DC (13 Jan 2025) - Today, Jan. 13, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $2,400,000 for 24 small businesses to develop technologies to address public health and environmental challenges. These companies are using innovative approaches that include treating PFAS in biosolids, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from building materials, and developing chemical alternatives that are safer for our environment.
EPA Releases Draft Risk Assessment to Advance Scientific Understanding of PFOA and PFOS in Biosolids
Washington, DC (14 Jan 2025) - Today, Jan. 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a draft risk assessment, or scientific evaluation of the potential human health risks associated with the presence of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals in biosolids, also known as sewage sludge. The findings for the draft risk assessment show that there may be human health risks associated with exposure to the “forever chemicals” PFOA or PFOS with all three methods of using or disposing of sewage sludge – land application of biosolids, surface disposal in landfills, or incineration. Once finalized, the assessment will help EPA and its partners understand the public health impact of forever chemicals in biosolids and inform any potential future actions to help reduce the risk of exposure.
In a First, the E.P.A. Warns of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Sludge Fertilizer (NY Times)
Chemicals in sewage sludge fertilizer pose cancer risk, EPA says (Associated Press)
‘Forever chemicals’ in sludge may taint nearly 70 million farmland acres (EWG)
‘Forever chemicals’ in sludge used to fertilize farms can pose a health risk to people, EPA says (CNN)
EPA report says “forever chemicals” in sewage-based fertilizer pose cancer risk (TX Tribune)
EPA report: Sewage sludge used as fertilizer contains ‘forever chemicals,’ putting health at risk for some (Spectrum Central NY)
PFAS in sewage sludge puts farms and food at risk (Environment America)
EPA finds possible health risks associated with PFAS in sewage sludge (WBUR Boston)
EPA warns of PFAS exposure from biosolids in long-awaited report (WasteDive)
EPA draft risk assessment explores PFOA and PFOS impact in biosolids (Smart Water)
Fertilizer from Sewage, a Utility Money Maker, Faces Uncertain Future (Great Lakes Now)
US warns of health risks from sewage use for fertiliser (The Cattle Site)
Canadian regulators lag behind U.S. after harmful 'forever chemicals' found in fertilizer, say experts (Richmond British Columbia)
EPA Suggests Health Risk From Foods Grown on Land Fertilized by PFAS-Contaminated Biosolids (Food Safety Magazine)
PFAS Sewer Sludge Risks Exist Says EPA…But Will It Matter After Today? (National Law Review)
PFAS Assessment Indicates EPA Is Failing Farmers [Opinion] (Lancaster Farming/Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association)
EPA Releases Long Awaited Risk Assessment of PFOA and PFOS in Biosolids (JD Supra)
Sludge spreading debate raises liability concerns, fertilizer questions for farmers
Albany, New York (27 Jan 2025) - For decades, farmers were told it was safe to use sewage sludge on their fields as fertilizer. Now, those living on the land or near it are discovering carcinogenic “forever chemicals” in their drinking water, milk, meat and vegetables, according to the EPA and researchers. The question of liability has caused concerned farmers. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said in April that he did not want farmers to be unfairly responsible for PFAS contamination.
Sewage sludge ‘poisoned’ drinking wells in Steuben County
PFAS and you: A look at how ‘forever chemicals’ impact people
Solving the complex PFAS problem
5 takeaways from the Spectrum News 1 sewage sludge investigation
'Suffering the consequences': Why Maine banned sewage sludge spreading and how farmers are adjusting
'Don't spread on me': Steuben County neighbors clamor for a ban on speading sewage sludge
Why New York plans to double sewage sludge spreading as EPA issues health risk
Albany County issues temporary ban on biosolid fertilizer use
Albany, New York (28 Jan 2025) - County Executive Daniel P. McCoy signed an executive order Monday putting a moratorium on the use of biosolid fertilizers on farms in Albany County. The issue came to the county’s attention when farms in New Scotland and Berne began using biosolids, more commonly known as sludge, on their farms. The first complaint was the smell of the fertilizer, but there have also been allegations that the waste seeped into nearby wells, contaminating them with E. coli.
Nationally
'We need to stop': Lawmakers, advocates renew efforts to ban 'humanure' use
Oklahoma City, OK (15 Jan 2025) - An Oklahoma lawmaker is raising a stink over using human, commercial, and industrial waste as fertilizer. The product is called "biosolids" or "sewage sludge," and it's not just the smell that worries him and other concerned advocates. In a draft assessment released on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found "that there may be human health risks associated with exposure to the 'forever chemicals' PFOA or PFOS with all three methods of using or disposing of sewage sludge – land application of biosolids, surface disposal in landfills, or incineration."
Shaw Files Bills to Restrict Green Energy, Ban Biosolids
Stinky county sludge might fuel cruise ships
Miami, FL (22 Jan 2025) - Revolutionary technology facing Miami-Dade commissioners this week could help resolve an ever-more-costly and rapidly expanding buildup of smelly wastewater sludge and turn it into salable fuel to power cruise ships. The solution would start with a small-scale test that would cost the county $3 million, funds that would be returned if a successful test in two years moves the hydrothermal biosolids technology ahead to a far larger processing plant that would cost the county nothing and handle a third of our wastewater sludge.
With funds running out, Maine is at a PFAS crossroads
Portland, ME (23 Jan 2025) - Over the last decade, Maine has spent more than $100 million as it became a national leader in the fight against harmful forever chemicals, but dwindling funds will soon force state officials to make difficult choices about whom to help and whom to turn away. In a legislative briefing Wednesday, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim didn’t ask for more funds to find, study, or clean up perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Instead, she asked for help deciding who should benefit from the money it has left.
Still reeling from PFAS spill, Brunswick residents push back on plans for sludge treatment plant
Brunswick, ME (28 Jan 2025) - At a Brunswick Town Council meeting on Monday night, Carslick said that bad dream could soon become residents’ “worst nightmare,” if the town reopens a processing site for chemical-laden sludge from sewer treatment plants across Maine, and potentially beyond. The residents were responding to plans from Delaware-based Viridi Energy to update and expand Brunswick Landing’s anaerobic digester, which converts sewage sludge — also referred to as biosolids — into renewable natural gas and byproducts that get sent to landfills.
Internationally
Ragn-Sells invests in a second plant for phosphorus recovery in Europe
Sollentuna, Sweden (12 Jan 2025) - The environmental company Ragn-Sells has announced an investment in a new plant for recovering phosphorus from incinerated sewage sludge in Helsingborg, Sweden. This facility will be the second to utilize the Ash2Phos technology developed by the innovation company EasyMining. Together with the ongoing plant project in Schkopau, Germany, this investment significantly increases Europe’s capacity for sustainable phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge ashes. The new facility in Sweden is planned to start-up in 2028.
Chief Secretary underscored the significance of establishing faecal sludge treatment facilities in various districts
Jammu, India (25 Jan 2025) - Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a meeting of Rural Development Department (RDD) to review progress on implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G) across the Union Territory. During the meeting, the Chief Secretary emphasized the importance of regular monitoring of community assets created by the Rural Sanitation Department. He directed the department to devise a robust mechanism for tracking the functional status of these assets including community sanitation complexes, compost pits, segregation sheds, soak pits and drainage facilities.
Government suggests ways to treat, reuse sewage sludge
New Delhi, India (26 Jan 2025) - Concerned over a large quantity of sewage sludge being generated every day, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has prepared a detailed advisory for its safe disposal and reusing and to promote off-take of treated sewage slush. The advisory contains details of design and cost of solar greenhouse dryer, which is used to enhance the quality of the bio-solids from the processed slurry extracted during treatment of wastewater and faecal sludge. |
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