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WILL VAN SANTSome treated human waste must be shipped outside the county because of high nitrogen levels at a disposal field.
BROOKSVILLE - State environmental regulators have ordered Hernando County to close one of its two sludge fields, used for dumping treated waste, because of high nitrogen levels.
Hernando officials said Friday they plan to issue an emergency order that will allow the treated human waste to be shipped to disposal sites outside the county. The amount of treated waste going to the remaining field will be increased and alternate disposal methods, like drying the material and dumping it in the county landfill, will be used.
Roughly 30,000 pounds of biosolids, a byproduct of wastewater treatment, are dumped daily at the 35-acre sludge field, located between the Anderson Snow Sports Complex and the Suncoast Parkway. The material has been treated to reduce pathogens, which can cause disease, but has a high nitrogen content.
After a routine review of data provided by the county, state Department of Environmental Protection officials found that more than six times the allowable limit of nitrogen had been dumped at the field in 2003. Two hundred pounds of nitrogen per acre per year is permitted. Regulators found that 1,308 pounds per acre had been dumped.
County officials said they were unsure why the level was so high but said that in February the DEP changed the formula used to measure the amount of nitrogen dumped.
"That's news to me," said Cheryl Minskey, residuals coordinator for the DEP's southwest district. "You don't need any kind of formula."
Minskey said nitrogen levels at sludge fields can vary greatly year to year depending on how well grasses are able to absorb the element and how much is dumped. A review of data provided by the county in past years, she said, showed no dramatic fluctuations in nitrogen levels.
Typically, sludge is dumped in rural agricultural areas, Minskey said, but available space is shrinking as the state develops, leading to complaints from those who live near disposal sites.
"When we get more complaints, we respond accordingly," she said. "So there has been more of an emphasis in this direction."
While uncommon, the waste can harbor diseases, Minskey said. Its greatest threat, she said, is to groundwater. High levels of nitrates in drinking water have been linked to so-called blue baby syndrome, which results when the pollutant robs infants' blood of oxygen.
Jesse Goodwin, assistant director of the county's water and sewer operations, said he tested the nearest public supply water well Friday morning and went back over a year of test results and found no indication of high nitrate levels.
On Monday, Goodwin said he planned to take soil samples in the area.
Nitrates are also a threat to the county's coastal riverine system. Those found emanating from coastal springs to date, however, are not organic but come from fertilizer runoff, county officials said.
The cost of shipping the waste out of the county could run about $1,200 a day, according to officials, and money is available. The step must be taken, they said, to avoid overloading the second county sludge field on Kettering Road.
Next year, the county plans to purchase a compressor device that will help reduce the amount of sludge that needs to be dumped. A recent sewer master plan calls for paying a consultant $55,700 to develop a long-term biosolid disposal strategy for the county.
According to Minskey, the situation at the site is not terminal. Left alone and given time, grasses at such sludge fields will absorb excess nitrogen and the field will again be ready for use.
As a result of the state's findings, the county could face tens of thousands of dollars in fines, but Minskey said such costly charges are sometimes waived when violators cooperate, as the county has.
"We do look at good-faith efforts," she said. "They agreed to stop right away."
A meeting between county and DEP officials has been tentatively scheduled for April 26 to discuss the contamination.
- Will Van Sant can be reached at 754-6127. Send e-mail to vansant@sptimes.com