By John Henderer The Chronicle, The Chronicle, 10/27/98
Biosolids regulation in Lewis County remains a state matter, after the county Board of Health Monday declined to accept jurisdiction until a citizen committee can review concerns.
Commissioners Richard Graham and Glenn Aldrich declined to second a motion by Russ Wigley, who, as chairman, took the unusual route of initiating the motion himself.
The county is attempting to win back jurisdiction over biosolids after an operator effectively ducked county regulators last month by applying for a state permit.
Biosolids, also called sludge, consist of treated human waste from municipal wastewater treatment plants.
The proposed agreement would grant the county authority to issue biosolids application site permits.
Citizens have expressed concerns over the county's practice of accepting biosolids from cities and municipal sewage systems outside the county.
Monday Commissioners Graham and Aldrich said the proposed memorandum of agreement with the state Department of Ecology needs to be reviewed by a citizen committee that has not yet been appointed.
Oct. 5, commissioners agreed to appoint a nine-member citizen committee to study whether the county could feasibly resume biosolids regulation and permitting. Commissioners said they wanted a report back from the committee by Dec. 7.
But as of Monday morning, none of the commissioners had selected members for the committee. Each commissioner was supposed to appoint three citizens.
"We need to get this committee appointed first," Graham said, citing three concerns mentioned in a memo from the county prosecutor's office.
By Monday afternoon, Wigley had selected Karen Knutsen of Onalaska, Carolyn Blanksma of Winlock and Bob Guenther, who lives near Fire Mountain Inc.'s Highway 508 site south of Chehalis.
Concerns over biosolids surfaced again earlier this year when the county investigated problems at Fire Mountain's biosolids application site on Highway 508, about one mile east of Interstate 5.
Fire Mountain applies biosolids to about 10 sites in Lewis County, said owner Bob Thode of Cinebar.
County regulators said they discovered E. coli bacteria at Fire Mountain's Highway 508 site, and were considering permanently revoking the permit.
But just one day before a Sept. 22 hearing, Thode applied for a state permit, effectively voiding county jurisdiction.
Wigley was clearly eager to act on the matter, and was exasperated when he failed to get support.
"If we don't move ahead on this I'm afraid we're going to get more (biosolids) sites in there via the state that we don't want," he said. 'This is a serious problem and it's growing in this county."
The proposed seven-page agreement refers to a new state rule defining treated biosolids as material other than solid waste.
"The preferred management strategy for biosolids, including septage, is beneficial use on the land," the proposed agreement states. The material contains "valuable nutrients," increasing organic content, tilth and water-holding potential of soils.
Ecology would retain jurisdiction over permits issued to wastewater treatment plants to dispose of biosolids through application on fields, said Jim Goode, county environmental services manager.
County environmental specialist Chris Cooper said the committee's task is to write rules outlining allowable sites for biosolids application and operating standards. Monitoring fees would be charged to the biosolids applicators.
A neighbor who attended the meeting, Judy Guenther, wife of the new committee member, expressed dismay after the board declined to act.
"I think Glenn (Aldrich) ... doesn't care, and he's on the side of Thode and sludge," she said. "He should know enough people to put on that panel."