Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:55 AM
From the PEC Council meeting, at which Bruce
Hancock, District Manager for the Ministry of the Environment,
presented his report about the spreading of sludge.
Some highlights:
- the spreading of sludge is not waste management,
it is a beneficial activity
- the quality of sludge is monitored in accordance
with the guidelines (?)
- spreading is prohibited on snow-covered or frozen
ground
- Certificates of Approval are given for a 5 year
period; the sludge can either be spread all at
once, or spaced over the five years
- Soil samples are submitted before approval, but
MOE does not test the samples; they are tested
at independent laboratories, and the MOE takes
their word for it
- at the end of 5 years, another Certificate of
Approval can be granted, and no soil sample is
required
- Certificates of Approval are not circulated and
are not subject to review
- the MOE does some inspections on a yearly basis;
last year, 15 of 400 sites in Eastern Ontario
were inspected
- inspections are also conducted if there has been
a complaint
- in the case of the heavy metal content being above
recommended levels (as in the case of Belleville),
the sludge is mixed with other sludge within the
acceptable levels, or it is applied at a reduced
rate (Belleville). Belleville's sludge is now
"almost at compliance level".
- there is no direction that sludge cannot be spread
on tile-drained fields, even though the reason
given for revoking a certificate in Picton was
that it was on a tile-drained field
- the MOE does not impose the obligation for a
Municipality to notify the residents
- it is the property owner who bears the liability
if there is an adverse effect
- the Municipality does not have the right to
prohibit the importing of sludge from another area
- it is the field owner's decision as to from whom
he takes sludge; if he decides to take sludge from
a source outside of the county, and the county has
no sites available for its excess sewage sludge,
then that's too bad
- the MOE does not do any sampling
- the MOE does not look at the impact of the
spreading on a number of fields in the same area
- there is no evidence of groundwater being affected
- there is no testing to determine if harmful
bacteria are surviving the treatment process;
only Toronto has taken it upon itself to do so.
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