Couple's concerns answered at sludge meeting

October 08, 1999|By SCOTT BUTKI

Janet and Charles Hesler showed up at an informational meeting Friday morning opposing a proposal to put sludge on a neighbor's farm, but their objections quickly dissipated.

"Information tends to kill a lot of dragons," Janet Hesler said after the meeting. Charles Hesler said he came away from the meeting satisfied with the information he was given.

Donald Beard applied for a Maryland Department of the Environment permit to use sludge as fertilizer on 25 acres of a 40-acre farm his family has owned for several generations. The land, on a farm road off Garis Shop Road, is owned by his son, Edwin. The Heslers live at 9604 Garis Shop Road.

Of the 10 people who showed up at Friday's hearing, the Heslers were the only two who did not work for the state or county government. Donald Beard said he forgot the hearing was Friday.

A decision on the permit request is expected within the next two weeks.

The sludge comes from human waste sewage, which would be treated at the nearby Maryland Correctional Institution Wastewater Treatment Plant before being taken by dump trucks to the farm.

The plant is not currently providing sludge to any county farms, but permits for sludge use at two undisclosed county locations are being considered, said Ahmad Razik, Maryland Environmental Service sludge management and environmental monitoring administrator.

If the permit is approved the Beards will probably only use the sludge as fertilizer twice a year, for their fall and winter crops, Razik said. There will be a 200-foot buffer between sludge and other property even though the legally required buffer is 50 feet, he said.

The Heslers sat silent during the first 30 minutes of the meeting as a presentation was made detailing the benefits of farmers using sludge - they get free fertilizer and it frees up space in landfills - and explaining that the sludge is regulated to avoid health hazards.

But when it switched to a question-and-answer format they quickly spoke up.

"I am not so sure this is something we want to see in our area," Charles Hesler said. He wondered if it will deter growth and development in the area.

He expressed concern that their 37-foot-by-30-foot organic garden would be damaged by sludge runoff, but he was told that would not occur.

Razik also told the Heslers there would not be a foul odor caused by the sludge.

About 650 farms in Maryland use sludge as fertilizer, said Martha Hynson, head of the Maryland Department of the Environment's sewage sludge utilization section.

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