In this Issue:

• How the NBP EMS Program Benefited the City of Santa Rosa, CA
• Feds to Test200 Lawrence County, AL Residents for Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
• WERF Offers Free Biosolids Research Reports
• East Brunswick Township, PA Settles Sludge Lawsuit
• Niagara, Canada Region Looks for Input on Biosolids Master Plan
• Poo Power Saves UK Water Company 15 Million English Pounds
• Wastewater Sludge, Wood Waste to Fuel Valdosta, GA Power Plant
• Green Energy Boiler Systems for Biosolids Processing
• EPA Analysis Shows Reduction in 2008 Toxic Chemical Releases
• San Francisco Bay Area Biosolids to Energy RFQ
• Biosolids Senior R&D Engineer Position in VA Available
• This Week in Washington from WEF

Week of 12-7-09 Biosolids Update (PDF)
Week of 12-7-09 Biosolids Update (WORD)

From Sam Hadeed, shadeed@wef.org. How the NBP EMS Program Benefited the City of Santa Rosa, CA. On July 29, 2009, the City of Santa Rosa Public Utilities, CA became one of only five certified agencies in California and25th organization in the nation to be certified by the NBP for protecting the environment by providing high quality biosolids treatment and beneficial reuse. On November 19, 2009, Santa Rosa officially celebrated the achievement with its Board of Utilities, members of the community, and City Staff. The NBP EMS process has allowed the City to develop a comprehensive approach for managing biosolids.

The implementation oftheirbiosolids EMS addressed five major components - Policy, Planning, Implementation, Measurement and Corrective Action, and Management. Having management invested in the program through the management review and other aspects of the process their EMS program has benefited greatly and through improved internal communication, better relationships with, interested parties, and the ability design theirprograms based on the communityys needs.City of Santa Rosa, CA EMS Success Story

From Decatur, AL Daily, 12-2-09. Feds to Test 200 Lawrence County, AL Residents for Exposure to Toxic Chemicals. Officials say levels in Lawrence wells, beef safe, but health advisory planned. Dec. 22Moulton, AL -- Federal officials will test the blood of up to 200 Lawrence County residents for potentially toxic chemicals placed on fields by Decatur Utilities (DU), an Environmental Protection Agency official said Monday.Glenda Dean, an official with Alabama Department of Environmental Management's (ADEM) water division, said concerns about the same perfluorinated chemicals also mean the Hillsboro landfill must obtain a discharge permit, which should include a plan to reduce the chemicals discharged at the Moulton wastewater treatment plant. This duplicates a requirement ADEM imposed on Morgan County Area Landfill earlier this year.

Lifetime exposure
EPA officials said they also are planning to release a new health advisory that considers lifetime exposure to the chemicals through drinking water. Gail Mitchell, deputy director of water protection, said the standards are scheduled for finalization in about a year. She said DU, 3M, Daikin America, Toray Fluorofibers and Synagro have tested an additional 12 private wells since June, and none had PFC levels as high as the current health advisory, adopted in January, which assumes exposure for only two years.

Thomas Meadows, a Lawrence County resident with a private well near a PFC-contaminated field, said his family has been drinking well water for a lifetime. He said he took little solace in the fact his well tested below the current health advisory.The information came during a public meeting in Moulton. About 120 residents attended the meeting, along with about 15 officials from DU, EPA, ADEM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Free fertilizer
For 12 years, DU got rid of sludge from its wastewater treatment plant by distributing it as free fertilizer to area farmers. The biosolids ended up on 5,000 acres of land, 90 percent of it in Lawrence County. Mitchell said EPA knew of the possibility that PFCs contaminated the sludge because of tests 3M performed beginning in 1979. What it did not realize until 2008, she said, was that DU was putting the sludge on farmland. She said Daikin America notified EPA in 2008 it had inadvertently discharged large amounts of the chemicals into DU's wastewater treatment plant. It was only then the agency discovered DU was using Synagro South to distribute the biosolids on farms. DU discontinued the practice in November 2008, after EPA shared test results showing high PFC levels in sludge-treated soil.

In response to a question about how long EPA has known that PFCs cross the placenta, Mitchell said 3M studies in 1999 alerted them of the danger to laboratory animals. Studies on the chemicals' impact on humans have been less clear, she said.S he said EPA recently conducted additional tests of five area public water supplies. The only samples that had detectible levels of PFCs came from West Morgan-East Lawrence, and those levels were well below EPA's health advisory.

Department of Agriculture official Kerry Dearfield said his agency decided samples taken from cattle slaughtered near contaminated land were safe for consumption. He said, however, that USDA tested only muscle meat, and its testing methodology could detect only levels 50 times the health advisory for drinking water.In humans, PFC levels tend to be highest in organs like the kidneys and liver. Dearfield said the agency did not test these organs, even though it took organ samples from the cattle it slaughtered."Our studies suggest people don't eat kidney and liver like they used to," he said. Tests of the slaughtered cattle's blood had levels of PFOS, a particularly toxic PFC, at levels as high as 500 times the EPA health advisory applicable to drinking water.

Editorrs Note [SJH]: PFCs are a family of fluorine-containing chemicals with unique properties to make materials stain and stick resistant. There are many forms of PFCs, but the two getting attention recently are: PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid, used to make Teflon products. PFOS or perfluorooctane sulfonate, a breakdown product of chemicals formerly used to make Scotchgard products.

Health advisory
EPA set a health advisory for PFC levels in soil based on occasional ingestion for six years, aimed at children. No soil samples exceeded the limit, said Mitchell. The health advisory did not consider PFC uptake by vegetables and crops, he said, because testing has not quantified how much of the chemicals plants absorb from soil.Several residents asked about the accumulation of PFCs in fish. Dr. Neal Sass of the Alabama Department of Public Health said his department has found PFCs in fish, with the highest levels in fish taken from Baker's Creek. "It bioaccumulates," Sass said. "That means small fish ingest PFCs, and larger fish eat them and get higher concentrations. Larger and older fish have higher concentrations. The higher you get on the food chain, the higher the levels are. We're at the top of the food chain." Asked by a resident if he would drink water contaminated with PFCs, Sass said, "Sure."

A sister agency of the Centers for Disease Control will conduct the blood tests. The agency will mail letters offering the test -- which is free to residents but costs the agency about $113 each -- to residents who live near heavily contaminated fields or who drink from contaminated private wells. The agency will take the blood samples this spring and provide results to the residents about six months later.

From WERF Headquarters. WERF Offers Free Biosolids Research Reports. On July 1, 2009, the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) began an open access policy for research reports which are more than two years old. WERF is offering a host of free Research on the Treatment and Management of Residuals and Biosolids reports from its archives. These open access reports are free to the public as downloads and are marked in blue in the chart .

Key Highlights:

• Almost a third of WERF's research projects have focused on the treatment and management of residuals and biosolids.
• This research is valued at over $20 million. Two of the six programs in WERF's new program-directed research process launched in 2005 will continue work in this area they include Solids Treatment, Residuals & Reuse and Wastewater Treatment & Reuse.
• Key subscriber challenges are related to residuals and biosolids, including the Operations Optimization research programs, and Biosolids Pathogen Risk and Communication.
• The biosolids TCR (Targeted Collaborative Research) program was set up by WERF to fund research on key biosolids-related issues identified in the 2003 WERF-EPA Biosolids Research Summit and by the TCR funding partners.
• Biosolids TCR funding partners include 12 WERF subscribers; each contributed between $5,000 to $50,000 per year for five years. To date, 55 projects have been completed and about 15 are ongoing.

From  Pottsville, PA Republican & Herald, 12-5-09. East Brunswick Township, PA Settles Sludge Lawsuit. East Brunswick Township, PA has settled the state attorney general's challenge to its 2008 sewage sludge ordinance, and will be allowed to impose some regulations, its solicitor said Friday. "It's great for the township," James E. Crossen III, Pottsville, said of the settlement, which allows East Brunswick to impose some regulations on sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, but not ban them.

Crossen said that under the agreement, the township will be allowed to impose several regulations, including:

• Requiring notice of all information submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the times, dates and places of all applications.
• Allowing land inspections before and during application of sludge.
• Collecting and testing samples of soil, sludge and well water.
• Banning application of sludge on major holidays.
• Requiring the posting of signs where sludge is applied to land abutting public roads.
• Allowing the township to seek enforcement of DEP regulations and the ordinance.

"The residents of East Brunswick Township had real concerns," Crossen said. "The question ... was how far can a township go."Attorney General Tom Corbett had challenged the ordinance as an infringement on state authority, saying DEP has comprehensive regulations of the practice. "The township and the attorney general's office had extensive discussions," Crossen said.

Corbett challenged the ordinance, which sought to impose bond, chemical testing, fee, notice and sign requirements on anyone who wants to apply sewage sludge on land in the township. He did so after reviewing it at the request of Jeff Hill, owner of J.C. Hill Tree Farms Inc., who fertilizes his 1,000-acre farm with sludge. Corbett alleged the ordinance violated the Agricultural, Communities and Rural Environment Act, the Solid Waste Management Act, the Nutrient Management Act, the Agricultural Area Security Law and the Second Class Township Code.

Bonds, fees and, except for the holiday provision, bans of the practice of using sludge as a fertilizer are not mentioned in any of the regulations that are now permitted. On Aug. 21, a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel had rejected most of the township's challenge to Corbett's lawsuit, indicating that much of the ordinance faced potential legal problems. A spokesman for Corbett's office could not be reached on Friday for comment on the settlement.

From St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada Standard,12-7-09. Niagara, Canada Region Looks for Input on Biosolids Master Plan. Niagara Region wants you to think beyond the flush. For the first time since 2001, the regional government is updating its biosolids master plan. That means planners are brainstorming ways to deal with our sewage sludge, the watery muck left over after regional sewage treatment plants, er, do their business. Niagara's 13 sewage plants can produce more than 375,000 cubic metres of the stinky stuff in a year enough to fill 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Finding a home for sewage sludge has been a sticky dilemma in the past. That's why the Region wants to hear from you, said associate wastewater director Gord Miokovic."We want to be responsive to the public," said Miokovic. "We'd like their feedback." Through its master plan, the Region wants to map out how to deal with sludge for the next 21 years. The study will assess how Niagara currently manages the muck, examine new strategies and review public confidence in its methods.

Right now, about half of the biosolids are "dewatered" and shipped to a company in Thorold, N-Viro Systems, which uses an alkaline treatment to turn the sludge into dry, saleable fertilizer.The remainder is injected into farm fields as liquid fertilizer, a provincially regulated practice dating back to the 1970s. Last year, the bulk of the stuff went to fields in Wainfleet, Fort Erie, West Lincoln and Lincoln. It's a "very valid use," according to Miokovic, not to mention the cheapest solution.

But it's not the most popular. Neighbours of sludge-fertilized fields sometimes complain about the smell. Environmentalists worry about spreading human waste, even properly treated waste, on fields that grow crops for humans to eat. And if biosolids are spread improperly, or too close to water, they can become an environmental contaminant instead of a beneficial fertilizer.

The Region must deal with other sludge-related challenges, too, like repeated mechanical breakdowns this year at its biosolids processing plants. Wet weather can also make land application of sludge unsafe, which sometimes means the stinky stuff ends up in the dump. There are other alternatives for sludge that a regional consultant will study, Miokovic said. For example, Hamilton is looking at incinerating most of its sewage sludge to create electricity. A St. Catharines-based company, Elementa, is proposing an energy-from-waste plant in Sault Ste. Marie that uses steam to turn solids like garbage and sludge into gas.

Regardless, the Region wants members of the public to be involved in the study and the decision-making. A public advisory group will be formed and begin meeting early next year, Miokovic said. Citizens can also comment or submit questions about the study until mid-December online.

From United Kingdom Press Association, 12-7-09. Poo Power Saves UK Water Company 15 Million. Thames Water is celebrating a new type of bottom line - the generation of renewable energy from customers' faeces. The firm said it was flushed with success after saving 15m last year in electricity bills by generating renewable power from the poo produced by 13.6 million customers. The company said it met 14% of its power needs from either burning sewage sludge or methane derived from it in 2008/9.

Under the scheme, power is generated either by drying sewage into blocks of "poo cake" which is then burnt to generate power or through anaerobic digestion where the methane from sewage sludge is burned to create heat. The company said once sewage sludge has been used for electricity, it is offered to farmers for use as fertiliser or to developers as landscaping material or soil improver. Last year, it said, the firm put 100% of its sewage sludge to beneficial use, it said, sending none to landfill.

Dr Keith Colquhoun, Thames Water climate change strategy manager, said "poo power" and other renewable energy sources were helping make "significant" progress towards its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% on 1990 levels by 2020. He said: "There's no polite way of saying this but what we produce - our poo - isn't simply waste, it's a great source of energy. "That's good news because we treat 2.8 billion litres of sewage every day at our 349 sewage works."The solids in sewage have a high calorific content that we use to generate electricity."

From December 2009 Biomass Magazine. Wastewater Sludge, Wood Waste to Fuel Valdosta, GA Power Plant. A $100 million project set to break ground next year in Valdosta, Ga., will utilize wastewater, wastewater sludge and wood waste to operate a 40-megawatt biomass power plant. The Wiregrass Electric Generating Facility will be constructed by Wiregrass Power LLC, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Sterling Energy Assets, and will be built on 22 acres next to the Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. About 750,000 gallons of reclaimed water from the Mud Creek plant, which has a daily capacity of 3.3 million gallons, will be used to cool the biomass plant boilers each day and will eliminate the need for an external water cooling source. Currently, after being treated the water is discharged into Mud Creek, a tributary of the Alapaha River.

Sludge that the city of Valdosta currently pays to be landfilled will be used as a feedstock at the power plant, as will woody biomass from local sources. Electricity produced at the plant, enough to power about 16,000 homes, will be sold to Georgia power utilities and sent through the grid via a transmission line adjacent to the project site. Georgia is one of 16 states that does not have a renewable electricity portfolio, but it does have some incentives to utilize biomass resources. In 2006, the Georgia Legislature passed House Bill 1018 which provides a 100 percent sales and use tax exemption for the purchase of organic biomass materials utilized in the production of electricity, steam or both for resale. Groundbreaking for Wiregrass Power is scheduled for 2010, and the project should be complete in 2012, according to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perduees office.

Beyond the Valdosta project, Georgia currently has several proposed biomass power plants across the state, which include the conversion of Southern Co..s largest utilities provider Georgia Powerrs 164-megawatt coal-fired power Plant Mitchell Unit 3, located near Albany, Ga., to a 96-megawatt, 100 percent wood-fired biomass plant.Oglethorpe Power Corp. has proposed the building of three 100-megawatt biomass power plants.

From Peter Brady (Chair, WEF Residuals & Biosolids Committee), pbrady@alpinetechnology.com. Green Energy Boiler Systems for Biosolids Processing. Over the past several years, there has been a growing trend that both the Bioenergy Value and  the Nutrient Value of biosolids have an equally legitimate  place in meeting the needs of the wastewater solids community. Over the past five to ten years this has catalyzed significant effort by researchers and developers to identify new and emerging technologies that will meet the future needs of this now significant market.  In addition, manufacturers of existing proven technologies have been working to customize their technology to meet customerss present needs, as opposed to those of the 1990s.

Some of the criteria that a modern bioenergy technology needs to have, include:

• Have significant green energy utilization capability
• Have best proven emission technology
• Cater for present and future health and nuisance issues, such as excessive trucking
• Needs to be proven and reliable
• Needs to be cost effectivee.both in capitol cost and operations
• Needs to be operator friendly
• In summary, needs to be sustainable.

Suppliers of a modern bioenergy solution are increasingly being asked to meet some of the following requirements:

• In addition to processing the plants biosolids stream, to additionally process community available green energy resources such as fats, oils, and greases (FOG), and wood chips.
• Use the energy for heating, electricity generation, or as a drive for fans, blowers, and pumps.

A modern Green Energy Boiler System has the potential to meet some or all, of the above needs. Such a system, using proven components, can accept multiple green fuel sources, process these in a metered ratio for process optimization, feed the reactor steam and flue gas to second boiler, which will generate the final processing medium which is then used as a combination of heat, electricity, and mechanical drives. Such a  Green Energy Boiler System  would  consist of a combination of the following elements:

• A feed system to meter an accurate amount of each fuel stream, thus providing a consistent flow of mass and energy to the boiler
• A fluid bed reactor, with steam coils
• Additional heat exchanger equipment to convert all of the energy gas and steam products into a single energy stream
• Best available emission control equipment
• Equipment to utilize the single energy stream into heat, electricity, and mechanical drives

PROVEN TECHNOLOGY

• The fuel metering system for biosolids, and additional fuels is in use on bioenergy projects for several years.
• Fluid bed reactors have been in successful operation for over 40 years as dryers, combustors, and incinerators. Green Energy Boiler Systems have been supplied to industry by wastewater equipment manufacturers since the 1980s.
• Hundreds of wastewater sizee gas and steam turbines are in operation, and also a large number of mechanical drives.

From Bay Area Biosolids to Energy Coalition. San Francisco Bay Area Biosolids to Energy RFQ. The San Francisco Bay Area Biosolids to Energy Coalition will be constructing a regional biosolids processing facility that will produce energy. The Coalition seeks to select qualified firms through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process. The selected firms will then be asked to submit a proposal to design and build; or design, build, own, and operate a biosolids to energy facility.As part of the RFQ registration process, firms that are interested in receiving the RFQ must register on the form at www.bayareabiosolids.com. This registration will ensure that addenda to and information related to the RFQ can be sent to those receiving the RFQ. The RFQ can then be downloaded from this site.

Below is the tentative schedule for issuance, receipt and evaluations of the response packages.

• Advertisement of RFQ (December 1, 2009)
• Pre-Submittal Conference  (January 8, 2010)
• Deadline for Proposers to Submit Questions  (January 18, 2010)
• Deadline for Proposers to Submit Qualifications  (February 19, 2010)
• Posting of Proposer Ranking  (March 22, 2010)

Responses to this email must be received no later than January 4, 2010 in order to register and receive the RFQ. The response should include name, company name, email address, address, and phone number. Please contact Caroline Quinn at Carolineq@ddsd.org or Natalie Sierra at NSierra@sfwater.org if you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter.

From Sam Hadeed, shadeed@wef.org. EPA Analysis Shows Reduction in 2008 Toxic Chemical Releases. EPA released on December 8 its analysis of the 2008 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI database contains information on chemical releases into the air, land and water, as well as waste management and pollution prevention activities. The analysis of the 2008 data, the most recent data set available, shows that 3.86 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment, a 6 percent decrease from 2007. This is the first time EPA has released its annual analysis in the same calendar year as the data were reported. The analysis, which includes data on 650 chemicals from more than 21,000 facilities, found that total releases to air decreased 14 percent, while releases to surface water increased 3 percent.This increase is partially attributed to a coal ash spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility in Kingston, Tenn.Releases to land remain virtually unchanged from 2007, showing a 0.1 percent increase.

The report shows decreases in the releases of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals including lead, dioxin, and mercury. Total disposal or other releases of mercury decreased 11 percent. Dioxin releases or disposal decreased 77 percent, while lead releases decreased by 2 percent. Releases of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) increased 121 percent.Because PCBs are no longer used in U.S. manufacturing, these releases represent the removal of PCBs from service for disposal at regulated hazardous waste facilities. The analysis also shows a 5 percent decline in the number of facilities reporting to TRI from the previous year, continuing a trend from the past few years. Some of this decline may be attributed to the economic downturn; however, EPA plans to investigate why some facilities reported in 2007 but not 2008.

From Tom Hammerstone , thammerstone@action-tech.com. Biosolids Senior R&D Engineer Position in VA Available. The Senior R&D Engineer will be responsible for leading research, development and industrialization projects in support of company's mission to develop innovative water/wastewater treatment solutions for company business groups. This position will be expected to serve an integral role in performing diverse engineering tasks to support new product development, technology innovation and system optimization initiatives. This position is directly involved with the Biological and Biosolids treatment processes. Additionally, the Senior R&D Engineer is expected to support R&D engineering colleagues working on a range of other water and wastewater treatment technologies.

Responsibilities:Development of R&D and Industrialization project plans and schedules. Establishment project protocols in collaboration with project team colleagues. Will perform engineering and design tasks as necessary to support company programs and operation of the pilot equipment as necessary. Analysis, interpretation and documentation of project results, preparation of technical reports and presentations. Development of intellectual property. Training and mentoring of junior team members. Stay current with emerging technologies and developments in field of application. Technical support of company technology areas. Maintenance of a safe working environment. Travel will be 25% and will be domestic and international.

Qualifications:Master Degree Environmental, Chemical, Mechanical Engineering, PhDD a plus. 8+ plus years engineering experience in Water / Wastewater Treatment Industry. Technical understanding of Water / Wastewater Treatment processes and working knowledge of companyys technology products. Technical writing skills and proficiency with Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes. Planning and strong organization skills. Trouble-shooting skills. Self-Initiatives. Team orientation. Motivated and Creative Excellent verbal and written communication skills.Resumes should be sent to thammerstone@action-tech.com or faxed to 804-379-1644, ATTN: Tom Hammerstone.

From Sam Hadeed, shadeed@wef.org. This Week in Washington from WEF. This Week in Washington (TWIW) is a free weekly e-newsletter of the Water Environment Federation's Government Affairs Department that is published on Fridays. It provides updates on the latest legislative and regulatory developments affecting the water and wastewater communities. View the on-line edition. You can also bookmark this link for future reference. To receive via email, send your request to the Editor -Sam Hadeed at shadeed@wef.org.