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agree.”
Mr. Walters argued that the test of reasonableness breaks into three questions:,is sludge safe; even if it is safe, how can the county deal with accidental spills and negligence as the burden is on the producer of the sludge to maintain safety tolerances; and three, how can the county deal with toxic substances that may be in the sludge.
“Everything that goes down the drain ends up in sludge,” he added.
First on the witness stand were the three plaintiffs, Mr. Welch, Mr. Powers and Ms. Saltonstall.
Mr. Welch told the court he has been a farmer in Rappahannock County for the past 23 years and runs a beef cattle and grain operation on land in Wakefield District.
“Sludge is organic fertilizer. It improves soil tilth, helps it retain moisture," he said.
He went on to describe his efforts to obtain a permit to spread sludge or bio-solids on his land through BioGrow, an Annapolis, Md., firm that specializes in spreading sludge. “I have signed a contract with them,” he said.
(State law requires the spreader to obtain the permit, certify the safety of the sludge, and get the farmer and property owner to agree to the stateimposed restrictions on field and crop use.)
He said he has visited farms in
93.7%