SAYS WASTE MANAGEMENT EXPF RT
Dumping Of Sewage May Be Threat To River
BY DOUG RUTTER
Two materials used in local crop
production probably are not pollut
ing the Lockwood Folly River. But
its resource-rich waters may be
threatened by the dumping of raw
sewage in the river basin, a waste
management expert said last week.
Bob Rubin, a bio- and agri-engi
neering specialist with N.C. State
University, said local officials
should be more concerned about the
disposal of untreated septic ?ank
solids than the sludge and Pfizer by
product used as fertilizer on farms.
Along with Brunswick County
Agricultural Extension Chairman
Milton Coleman, Rubin spoke to a
group of eight people at the Save
Our Shellfish (SOS) meeting last
Friday night in the Lockwood Folly
Community Building.
SOS President Annie Smigiel
blamed the unusually small turnout
on the recent opening of the lower
Lockwood Folly River to shellfish
ing. When the river opens to har
vesting, she said fishermen tend to
LETTER
A Figment
Of Reporter's
Imagination
To the editor:
As a newly-elected commissioner
in District 2 of the Town of
Calabash, I find it necessary to
reply to the recent column in The
Brunswick Beacon dated Feb. 1.
Our new board has been in exis
tence for two months with an atten
dance rate of almost 100%. We
have concentrated on community
involvement in our town govern
ment and the general operation of
our new organized community.
We in District 2 have deed re
strictions which arc a marriage
between the golf course and the
homeowner. Living on the 4th fair
way, with a beautiful view of a well
kept golf course, it is my obligation
to abide by our restrictions.
Your writer's comrncnts auuiii
clotheslines and pick-up trucks has
to be a figment of his imagination.
It has never been our intention to
legislate our deed restrictions to the
town as a whole.
Surely seven individuals will,
from time to time, have a difference
of opinion and not spiteful as the
column indicated. We are not a
divided town, having elected Doug
Simmons as mayor from District 1,
showing the support of District 2.
1 hope in the future all editorials
and articles concerning our town
will reflect a more positive attitude
and not a reporter's pipe dream.
George L. Taubel
Commissioner, District 2
Calabash
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'7 am very comfortable with ike way
sludge is managed in North Carolina."
? Dr. Bob Rubin, waste management specialist
N.C. State University
forget about pollution problems.
During the two-hour meeting,
Rubin and Coleman said the legal
dumping of septic tank waste at dis
posal sites in the Lockwood Folly
River Basin should be the group's
main concern relating to waste man
agement.
They said SOS members should
not worry about the use of sludge,
which comes from waste treatment
plants in Wilmington and Carolina
Beach, or mycelium, a byproduct
from the Pfizer citric acid plant in
Southport
Although land is the best place to
dispose of septic tank solids, Rubin
said the waste typically goes on the
land untreated.
He urged the group to push for
changes in local health department
regulations on disposal of septage
and to use rules adopted in Cumber
land County as a model.
One simple way to improve local
practices, said Rubin, would be to
add a bag of lime to a septic tank or
the pumper truck before the tank is
being pumped out. That would kill
almost all of the bacteria and great
ly reduce the chance of pollution
seeping into ground and surface wa
ters once the solids have been ap
plied to the land.
Rubin and Coleman said they're
almost certain sludge isn't a source
of pollution in the river. The prod
uct is strictly regulated, they said,
with permits handled through the
state Division of Environmental
Management.
Of the eight farms in the county
that have been permitted and re
ceived sludge, Coleman said none
are situated in the Lockwood Folly
River Basin.
Nine other sites in the county
have been permitted but have not
received sludge. Most of those per
mits will probably be withdrawn,
said Coleman, since most the farms
are located in the river basin.
Since no sludge has been used
near the Lockwood Folly, Varnam
town Mayor Pro Tem Ennis Swain
said last week, "It's doubtful if any
of that has reached the river."
"I think you could rightfully say
zero," added Coleman.
Rubin noted that applicators ?
contractors who deliver sludge to
the farms ? have millions of dollars
invested in their equipment and it
hrhnnvps them to follow permit
guidelines.
Slate permits require thai sludge
be disked or injected into the soil
shortly after it is delivered to a site.
Also, it cannot be applied within
100 feet of streams, ditches or other
waterways.
"It's a highly-regulated agricul
ture operation," Rubin told the
group. "I am very comfortable with
the way sludge is managed in North
Carolina."
While the use of mycelium is not
restricted like sludge, Rubin and
Coleman said it's unlikely that it is
contributing to pollution problems
in Lockwood Folly River.
Mycelium, one of three byprod
ucts made at the Pfizer plant in
Southport, is permitted for use as
agricultural fertilizer and is often
stockpiled in fields.
Coleman said the organic materi
al is being used within the river
basin, but since it contains no fecal
coliform bacteria, it cannot be con
tributing to pollution problems.
Throughout the evening, Rubin
said that using waste in crop pro
duction should not be stopped just
because there are a few instances
where it harms the environment. "It
means what we've got to do is find
better ways of managing it," he
said.
As an analogy, Rubin said the
state shouldn't step building high
ways just because stormwater run
off from highways has polluted ri
vers. lakes and streams for years.
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