Representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Interior Health Authority say they ensure biosolids are regulated, and health and environmental risks are next to none.
The Civic Centre was packed for the day-long Nicola Watershed Community Round Table public forum on Monday, which had six presentations on the topic, each of which was followed by questions from the crowd of about 400 people.
Residents raised concerns surrounding public health, environmental impacts and odour. Some were concerned with the regulations and expressed displeasure with a lack of public consultation, which led to the product being trucked here from other cities.
While members of the public stood at one end of the room raising concerns — and sometimes even heated opposition toward biosolids — presenters at the other end painted an overall positive view of the product.
The public forum was brought together by the Nicola Watershed Community Round Table after concerns were raised by residents of the Sunshine Valley Estates that drinking water sources in the Sunshine Valley might be contaminated if the company BioCentral was allowed to apply biosolids to a property on Woodward Road.
The company has been operating a biosolids composting facility on Sunshine Valley Road for about a year, much to the dismay of nearby residents.
The Ministry of Environment’s Cassandra Caunce told the Herald that after hearing people’s concerns, the ministry plans to visit BioCentral’s composting facility this week to verify the operation is indeed on par with provincial regulations.
Caunce also said that if provincial regulations are followed, there should be little to no risk to human health and the environment in the area where biosolids activity is taking place.
Interior Health Authority health protection team leader Mike Adams told the crowd that when it comes to the land application of biosolids, the role of IHA is to determine if there are significant human health risks that have not been addressed by the proponent of a land application plan.
IHA is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Drinking Water Protection Act, and the proponent of land application of biosolids is obligated to ensure drinking water sources are protected, he said.
“Interior Health takes the health of Merritt residents seriously, and we review all applications. If there’s ever a time that we felt the risks were too high, our medical health officer does have the authority to issue a do not proceed order,” Adams said.
Both the IHA and the Ministry of Environment have reviewed the biosolids land application plan for the Woodward Road property and have requested more information from the proponent with regards to setbacks from surface water, slopes on the property, groundwater, drinking water and habitat protection.
“Once we get that additional information we’ll review it, and after we’ve had a chance to review it, then we would make some decisions about what the next appropriate steps are,” Adams said.
If there are issues that cannot be corrected, the IHA could issue an order not to proceed with the land application.
INFORMATION EXPECTED IN THE SPRING
Environmental health officers have visited the site where the biosolids are to be applied.
Neil Caine, the waterboard chair for the Sunshine Valley Estates, has said the location of BioCentral’s application of biosolids on Woodward Road is in the housing development’s watershed.
IHA spokesperson Michaela Swan said the intended location to apply biosolids is in a watershed, but the IHA needs more information to determine if the application meets the requirements to be in such a sensitive area.
Adams told the Herald the IHA’s expectation from a proponent operating in a watershed is to identify water sources that could be impacted, and make sure no drinking water wells are nearby.
Adams said one of the multiple pieces of information the IHA is seeking from the proponent with regards to Woodward Road is to determine the high water mark of a seasonal lake located on the property. Knowing this would ensure land application of biosolids is taking place outside a buffer zone for the lake.
“There was some site-specific information regarding this notification that we wanted additional information on,” Adams said.
The Ministry of Environment will also assess the requested information and visit the proposed site for land application of biosolids, Caunce said.
“We’re monitoring it closely,” she said.
The additional information requested by the Ministry of Environment and IHA is expected to be received in the spring.
Until these regulatory bodies review the additional material and consider it compliant with the province’s Organic Matter Recycling Regulation, no biosolids can be spread on the Woodward Road property.
Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart attended the public forum and information session on Monday. She said she didn’t know much about biosolids prior to the meeting.
She said after hearing the concerns expressed, her focus is on working with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to address those concerns.
“We’re hearing strongly from the residents that this isn’t something they want, and so that’s something we need to deal with and figure out how we’re going to move forward on that,” Tegart said.
Randy Murray, TNRD director for the area in which biosolids are being composted near Merritt, said he was glad to see the large turnout to the meeting — an indicator of how seriously residents are taking the issue.
“It was a very informative session,” Murray said.
He said there were a lot of great questions from qualified people in the audience, some which were answered and others which remain unanswered.
He said the meeting went a long way to better understanding the problem.
The Nicola Community Watershed Round Table plans to hold another biosolids meeting in the future.
Murray said to him, the situation surrounding biosolids is greater than whether or not biosolids are allowed by Ministry of Environment rules and regulations.
He said it’s a problem that a compost facility and biosolids land application can occur in his area without notifying and consulting the TNRD.
“I’m still looking at this from a political perspective,” he said, noting issues of odour, negative publicity, increased truck traffic and decreasing property values.
Logan Lake Mayor Robin Smith also attended the public meeting. She said that there is a biosolids facility that has been operating near Logan Lake, which has caused concerns regarding odour.
“It’s been a really informative session for me to learn a lot more about what it is that is arriving in our backyard,” Smith said.
RESIDENTS CONTINUE TO QUESTION SAFETY
The production of biosolids involves a heating process that eliminates pathogens and the majority of compounds such as hormones and pharmaceuticals, the Ministry of Environment states.
Biosolids are derived from sewage, which consists of liquid waste from households, as well as commercial businesses such as hotels and light industry, but not typically heavy industry.
Consultant and biologist Joanne Harkness of the Kelowna-based environmental engineering firm Urban Systems gave an overview of what biosolids are in her presentation at the meeting as well.
When sewage is treated at a water treatment facility, organic solids and dissolved matter is separated from items such as plastics, which go to landfills.
The material that becomes biosolids undergoes further treatments and is broken down to the point where no portion of it is recognizable as feces.
“It’s not feces, it’s the micro-organisms that break down our feces,” Harkness told the Herald.
The end product, when used properly, is a low-risk fertilizer that can be handled in a similar way to any other fertilizer, she said.
Regarding odour concerns, Harkness said it’s a personal nuisance and it is hard to prove if there is or isn’t a relationship between biosolids odour and health concerns.
“We do treatment to create biosolids, and when we treat, it’s quite a controlled process – it’s a scientific and engineered process,” Harkness told the crowd.
The Ministry of Environment says it allows the application of biosolids despite the fact that pharmaceutical products, hormones and personal care products might be present in biosolids because their research shows these compounds are found in low concentrations in wastewater residuals, break down in the process of biosolids production and break down in soils upon application. They also do not show any significant negative effect on the growth and reproduction of earthworms, plants and bacteria.
However, many of the attendees at the nearly seven-hour meeting were not convinced biosolids are harmless.
“Would you be comfortable — and I want an honest answer — living below something like this with no concerns?” city councillor Mike Goetz asked Harkness.
“The question isn’t an easy one to answer, because it’s not just science involved. It’s perception, it’s fear,” Harkness replied, noting that people need to trust that the IHA and Ministry of Environment aim to protect public health and the environment.
Biosolid production in B.C. is governed by the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (OMRR), which was enacted in 2002.
The OMRR sets standards for biosolids production and application with criteria such as the allowable amount of a variety of metals, allowable level of pathogens, the rate of land application and prediction of the effects on soil with regards to metal levels after application.
The regulation also dictates setbacks from water, roads and properties, as well as restrictions based on the class of biosolids, for animal grazing and planting food crops, the ministry states.
Land application of biosolids to grow food crops for human consumption hasn’t occurred in B.C.
Agassiz-based company BioCentral intends to spread biosolids on a Woodward Road property in the Sunshine Valley to grow grass for grazing cattle.
Maryam Mofidpoor, environmental management officer for the Ministry of Environment, said the limits for levels of metals in Class A biosolids are tighter than the limits in the U.S. and Europe.
“We have one of the best standards in the world,” Mofidpoor said.
