Sludge decision basis of program petition

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was asked Wednesday to halt all land-application programs involving sewage sludge, based in part on a Richmond County jury's $550,000 award to a Burke County family.

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The petition filed with acting EPA Administrator Marianne Horinko cited the June 24 award to Boyceland Dairy as the basis for its claim that federal regulations governing land application of sludge are insufficient to protect human health and the environment.

The EPA must respond within 60 days.

Laura Orlando, a spokeswoman for the environmental coalition headed by the Washington-based Center for Food Safety, said the Cornell Waste Management Institute has received more than 350 sludge-related complaints in recent years.

Sludge, a byproduct of the wastewater-treatment processes used by most cities, is routinely applied to pastures or fields and touted as a beneficial, free fertilizer.

Such disposal methods are widely accepted throughout Georgia and the rest of the nation and are permitted under the EPA's guidelines.

According to the coalition's petition, the Augusta case is the first instance in which a damage award resulted from litigation involving sludge applied after the EPA's regulatory program was in place.

The Boyce family, after a two-week civil trial, was awarded $550,000 involving claims that the city of Augusta's sludge, applied to the family's pastures, caused the deaths of 300 cattle. The city denies the allegations.

Jim Ellison, who defended Augusta in the case, noted that the $550,000 award was a fraction of the $12 million initially sought by the plaintiffs. Using that award to petition the EPA, he added, is "a reach" at best.

"I think it's a leap for this group to take that kind of position based on this jury verdict," Mr. Ellison said.

Ed Hallman, who represented the Boyce family, disagreed.

"The fact is, it was a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on the claims as made, and those claims are that the cows were damaged and the land was damaged as a result of the city's application of sewage sludge," he said.

Reach Robert Pavey at (706) 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Thursday, October 9, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle