EPA cites sludge violations

By Greg Little, Managing Editor The Covington Leader
April 5, 2005

The federal government says a sludge hauler in the county is in violation of the Clean Water Act.

“Until such time as you achieve compliance, you are considered to be in violation of and subject to enforcement action ...,” was one statement in a notice of violation from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to Van Bringle, owner of Add-Van Farms.

That company presently hauls sewage sludge for the cities of Covington and Bartlett. The company has been cited several times by the state of Tennessee in the last 11 years for various environmental violations at the site on McLellan Road in northwest Tipton County.

Action by Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, prompted the EPA office in Atlanta to pay a site visit to the area in November of last year. Though officials said a response would be ready in 30 to 45 days, it wasn’t until March 4 of this year that the notice was sent to Bringle.

According to the letter, Bringle had until Monday of this week to draft a response.

Michael Hom, environmental engineer with EPA and one of the inspectors at the site, said on Friday his office was drafting a response to several questions from The Covington Leader about the recently-issued order. He said those responses would not be available by press time for this edition.

The notice does say that Add-Van Farms could face civil and criminal penalties because of the violations documented in the report.

“This section provides for the issuance of administrative penalty and compliance orders and/or the initiation of civil and/or criminal actions,” stated the notice, which was signed by Alfreda Freeman, chief of the Central Enforcement Division in Atlanta.

Norris said on Friday he had received the notice from the EPA and felt it was a “positive” step by the federal government.

However, Norris also said he remains frustrated about the entire situation and feels the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation should have taken a more pro-active approach to the problem.

The reason both state and federal agencies are involved is because there were two types of sludge being dumped at the site.

Food-waste sludge was being hauled to the area from several companies in West Tennessee. The food-waste sludge falls under TDEC’s authority. The company no longers has any food-waste contracts.

The sewage sludge from Bartlett and Covington falls under the auspices of the EPA and the federal Clean Water Act.

Norris said TDEC had issued an order more than two years ago that food-waste dumping at the site was not being done properly and company officials were ordered to clean up the area and change the way the sludge was being incorporated into the soil.

That was for the food-waste sludges.

“When it is known by the state that there is a problem, why would they not contact the feds who control that (sewage sludge) side of it?” said Norris.

Norris said it should not have taken action by a newspaper and state senator before the federal government got involved because it was apparent there were problems at the site and he thinks the state should have notified the federal agency.

He said the fact the EPA has issued a notice of violation to Add-Van Farms verifies the sewage sludge was not being handled properly.

The notice of violation says the amount of sludge being dumped at the site was more than allowed by law and further states record keeping was not done properly, if at all.

“No records were maintained of the amount of sewage sludge land applied to a designated tract within each site ...,” says the order.

The EPA report gave an “unsatisfactory” rating to Add-Van Farms in the “records/reports” category.

It states that besides the lack of record keeping regarding how much sludge was dumped at the site, the company also failed to maintain records for the crop harvest and yield records.

In the “sludge handling/disposal” category, the company had mixed results.

For the city of Bartlett, there was a “satisfactory” rating which indicated a proper amount of sludge was being applied to the land.

However, for the city of Covington, the rating was “unsatisfactory.”

The report indicates the amount of sludge being applied to the area was based on 140 acres of usable land.

However, when the inspection took place, it indicates that Bringle told the EPA only half of the acreage is planted each year, meaning the amount of land-applied sludge should have been based on 70 acres, not 140.

EPA officials determined the “application rates are over the nitrogen recommendation.”

They also indicated there were questions about how the sludge was applied.

“Based on the company description of the application method, and from the observations by TDEC, the spread pattern is uneven from the tanker trucks and can cause excessive ponding of the liquid sludge,” wrote Freeman in the report.

The report also said the EPA is still evaluating the storm water runoff at the location.

“EPA is still evaluating the compliance status of the storm water detention ponds located on both farms which are used for erosion and sedimentation control and have the potential to discharge to surface waters of the United States,” it says. “We will notify you if any follow-up is necessary pending further agency review.”

Residents along Detroit Road have complained for years about what they say is a bad stench in the area from the sludge and have also had concerns about runoff of the sludge into Indian Creek, which runs into the Hatchie River and then into the Mississippi River just a few miles away from the sludge dumping area.

The Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge borders the property, as well.

The Clean Water Act calls for possible civil penalties from $250 to $5,000 a day if a site is in violation. It also says the person or persons responsible can be placed in prison for not more than one year.