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By Kevin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
The immediate pressure on Rappahannock County’s sludge issue may have subsided, but the issue has not gone away.
Rappahannock County Administrator John McCarthy and Commonwealth’s Attorney Peter Luke have assembled a committee for input on drafting an ordinance to regulate the land application of sewage sludge in the county. The .fiveperson group met for the first time Wednesday in the county meeting room on Gay Street to begin fleshing out a proposal.
Joining McCarthy and Luke on the committee are Susan Trumbo of Recyc Systems and Tim Bondelid and Rick Kohler, who were appointed to the committee by RappFLOW and the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection, respectively.
The county has had a ban on the land application of sewage sludge since 1994. However, since sludge application is allowed by state law, the county’s ban would likely not withstand a strong legal challenge.
The sludge issue came to a head in recent weeks when two county farmers applied for permits to spread treated sewage sludge in place of fertilizer on their properties. Both farmers have since withdrawn their permit applications, but county leaders want to have an ordinance in place to regulate any future sludge applications.
“The immediacy has been taken off with the withdrawal of the application,” McCarthy said.
As a starting point, the committee is working from a draft biosolids ordinance created by the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Depart
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