Senator Mark Norris -District 32

State Sen. Mark Norris takes some photographs at one of the sludge pits at the Add-Van Farms facility last week. Norris has vowed to look into the matter and make sure state laws and rules are complied with at the operation. (Photo by Greg Little)

State officials are moving forward toward an August deadline concerning the future of a Covington sludge operation.

Add-Van Farms, owned by Van Bringle, has been at the center of the state’s attention for quite some time and especially in the past couple of months. There is an 11-year history of environmental violations at the site and the owners have until Aug. 11 to get into compliance.

Additionally, Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, has been investigating the matter and he paid a visit to the site last week. Norris has said he is “concerned” about the situation and has been in contact with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).

Philip Davis of TDEC said this week the story has taken a new twist, one in which the sludge operators are saying a 2002 study related to deficiencies resulted in a land application plan being developed in the state office.

However, Davis said that isn’t the state’s position on the matter and the most recent order from the state is very specific about what needs to take place at the site near Detroit Road in northwest Tipton County.

That order outlines issues ranging from how sludge is land-applied to how odor is to be controlled to how security fencing should be installed. And there are a plethora of other issues involved.

One of the most critical aspects of a new plan being developed evolves around how much and what kind of sludge has been dumped at the site over the years.

Davis said state officials are insisting that be completed and verified before the state can even make a determination about whether or not Bringle will be able to continue with his operation.

“We don’t have any data to say what he has had out there,” said Davis. “If he can’t tell us what kind of impact he has had out there, how can we tell them how much to put on the ground?”

State officials have said in the past they have no solid data about what has been hauled to the site, how much has been dumped and what kinds of environmental impacts it has had on Bringle’s ground and possibly surrounding areas, which include residential housing as well as the Lower Hatchie River Wildlife Refuge.

“The unfortunate thing is the way the regulations are written, it is up to the generator of the waste to determine whether or not it is a waste,” said Davis. “For any and all regulations, we have to rely on the fact people want to do it the right way.”

But Davis said the order from the state is clear and Bringle will have to fully comply with every aspect of that order, which was signed Aug. 11, 2003, and gave Bringle a year to come into compliance.

On July 2 of this year, Davis wrote a letter to Bringle which discusses the closure of the nine lagoons now on-site at the operation. These are the lagoons the residents of the area say cause an ordor so raunch that on many days, they can’t even go outside of their homes.

The letter said on April 15, 2002, a land application and operation plan (LAOP) was received by TDEC officials.

“This plan proposed your approach to operate the land application process for maximum agronomical benefit,” said the letter. Just 45 days later, the state issued a notice of deficiency to Bringle regarding violations they say were taking place at Add-Van Farms’ site in Tipton County.

“To our knowledge, no response to the NOD (notice of deficiency) has been received ...,” wrote Davis in the letter.

But John W. Smith of JWS & Association of Cordova, the engineering consultant firm hired by Bringle, has a different take on the matter.

He said “considerable response was provided to the NOD which resulted in the Environmental Assessment and Remediation Plan being developed and approved by your office.” That was in a letter dated July 7 of this year.

Smith said he would “be glad” to provide documentation to the state “to support the response to the NOD and the direction that was mutually agreed upon by Bringle and TDEC.”

However, he also claimed that copies of his documentation are in the TDEC files in Nashville.

In his letter, Davis said the orders are quite clear.

“Add-Van shall cease use of the existing field storage lagoons when the new lagoons are completed ... or within 365 days of the approval of this settlement agreement, whichever is sooner,” wrote Davis.

He was citing point 10 of the settlement agreement, which was signed on Aug. 11, 2003, by Bringle as well as the attorney general, comptroller of the state and Gov. Phil Bredesen.

As of last Friday, Davis said the state had received no engineering documentation for any new lagoons or storage pits. He said once that documentation is received, it must then be scrutinized and approved by both his office in Memphis as well as the main office in Nashville.

Davis recently said he was unsure how long that process would take, but felt in this case, officials would be looking at it closely.

He cited the concern of the public, media coverage, the past history of violations and “how long this has gone on” as central reasons why state officials will have to take a very close look at any future plans to continue dumping sludge.

Also in his letter, Davis said that within 45 days of “ceasing to use the existing field storage lagoons ... the industrial wastes and municipal sewage wastes in these lagoons shall be removed and the lagoons shall be closed by filling the lagoons with soil or other material approved by TDEC.”

Davis said, to date, TDEC has not approved any materials which will be used to close the existing lagoons.

However, in his letter, Smith said Bringle plans to have the lagoons closed on time.

“The closure of existing lagoons is in progress and will be completed on or before the deadline in the settlement agreement,” wrote Smith.

Davis said it is his assumption that Bringle is draining the pits by pumping the industrial sludge into trucks and the land-applying it at the site, something he can legally do until the Aug. 11 deadline.

“Right now, he’s free to do it the way he has until then,” said Davis.

However, he also said that once Aug. 11 arrives, Bringle “has to have everything in the order in place.”

Davis also said it is his understanding from the order that all of the pits must be emptied by Aug. 11 and then Bringle will have 45 days in which to properly close them under TDEC as well as federal guidelines. There are also specific rules in the new order as to how Bringle must build new pits, which include liners and a host of other requirements before sludge can be dumped into them.

Davis said the letter was sent to Bringle “reminding him about the deadline and that he had a notice of deficiency for the land application plan.”

He also said he has been in close contact with TDEC officials in Nashville and they believe the order stands and Bringle must be in full compliance with the entire order on Aug. 11 or face consequences from the state.

Davis said on Monday the state officials were discussing the matter and he expected a response to Bringle’s latest letter sometime later this week.

He also stressed that unless it can be shown how much and what kinds of waste have been dumped at the site, the state will likely not approve any new operation plan, meaning Bringle would not be allowed to haul any more sludge into the area until he is in full compliance.

Davis also said he has only spoken briefly to the water quality division of TDEC about possible new violations at the site. That division concentrates on the sewage sludge hauled to the site.

State inspectors were at the site a couple of months ago and then went back two weeks ago. Davis said he spoke with the representative who visited the site and “the only thing which came up was the water pollution control issue.”

However, the person in charge of that is in the National Guard and out of the office for two more weeks.

“I’ve heard the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has been contacted,” said Davis.

In the meantime, officials are biding their time until the second week of August.

“We are waiting for the compliance deadline to hit,” said Davis.