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By Gerald Ochs
' Rappahannock News Writer
Community pressure is still being applied to ensure that the impending sludge ordinance reflects the apparent will of the people that no sludge ever be applied to Rappahannock County land. Though the State Supreme Court’s ruling that Amelia County’s sludge ban is illegal means that Rappahannock’s ban is illegal as well, local residents would seemingly still prefer a fight in the courts to sludge on Rappahannock farmland.
Jim Gannon, President of the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection (RLEP), was again lead-off hitter in the public hearing, and he reiterated his organization’s position. Referring to the nine recommendations made by the RLEP at the Planning Commission’s June meeting, Mr. Gannon expressed his disappointment that none of those recommendations appeared in the latest version of the sludge ordinance, and he added, “If they are illegal according to Peter Luke (County Attorney), so be it.”
“It is the responsibility of the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to protect the health and welfare of the community. . . .importing sludge does not,” he continued. Mr. Gannon further suggested that the Planning Commission investigate “making the importing of sludge a disqualification for tax benefits (land use taxation),” and he opined that he does not believe “that the primary goal should be to draft a law that assures that we won’t get sued.”
Phil Irwin told the Commission that “nutrients need to be added for hay and grass, but substances in sludge are not what we need to add.” “What is important,” he said, “is that we don’t add something to Rappahannock that doesn’t belong here.”
Other speakers, including Bob Lander, Paul Komar, and Barbara
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