NC0044725_Fayetteville Observer_20070131

Officials: Sludge was dumped to save money
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Subject: Officials: Sludge was dumped to save money
From: susan massengale <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:29:07 -0500
To: DWQ Clips <[e-mail]>
the Act for Protection Section?
From the Fayetteville Observer
Officials: Sludge was dumped to save money
By Jennifer Calhoun
Staff writer
Davis
MAXTON — The man suspected of dumping sludge into a Scotland County wetland was
trying to save the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport Commission some money, officials said
Tuesday.
Mac Henderson, chairman of the airport's board of commissioners, said Gary Arnett,
former superintendent of the Airport Commission's wastewater treatment plant,
reportedly told authorities that he was trying to save the business money by
dumping the sludge.
Disposing of the sludge properly costs the Airport Commission an estimated $13,000
to $15,000 a year.
Arnett was an employee of the plant for 19 years before retiring Jan. 22.
State environmental officials believe that. Arnett dumped an undetermined amount of
sludge — a byproduct of wastewater treatment similar to fertilizer — into a wetland
area between the airport and Shoe Heel Creek.
According to state authorities, Arnett is suspected of rerouting sludge from the
working treatment plant to an old pipe at a defunct plant on the premises. The
sludge went from the pipe into the wetland.
The State Bureau of Investigation, the state's Division of Water Quality and the
Environmental Protection Agency are investigating.Arnett and the plant for a
possible violation of the Clean Water Act, said Susan Massengale, a spokeswoman for
the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Authorities believe Arnett acted alone and that he was not ordered to dump the
sludge.
The Clean Water Act makes it illegal to discharge sludge into any waters.
"In a stream, (sludge) doesn't act as fertilizer," said Belinda Henson, a
spokeswoman for the Division of Water Quality. "It acts as killing bugs and fish."
Henson said scientists studying the contaminated wetland area Friday did not find
dead fish or bugs, but the investigation is not complete.
Henson said scientists visited the site Friday and took samples of the water to
test for contaminats. Results should be available sometime next week, she said.
A team of scientists from the agency will also study the area in about two weeks to
make an assessment of possible environmental damage done to the wetland and creek.
Authorities said the dumping happened more than once and took place over a period
of time. Henderson said he believed it happened about 10 times.
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Officials: Sludge was dumped to save money
A reporter and a photographer from The Fayetteville Observer were denied access to
the site by Paul Davis, executive director of the Airport Commission.
Davis said the site was not open to the public because it was dangerous and
difficult to access.
The Airport Commission receives wastewater from a section of the town of Wagram,
Scotland Correctional Institute, Spring Hill Middle School and from industries near
the Airport Commission facility.
Henson said the state has not issued any warnings about drinking water
contamination because no water intakes were affected.
The agency has not determined whether Shoe Heel Creek was affected, Henson said.
According to records obtained from the state's Division of Environment and Natural
Resources, the plant has had six violations since 1999, ranging from problems with
paperwork to problems with equipment.
One of the violations was from October, when the Division of Water Quality
determined that a blanket of sludge on one of the plant's clarifiers was too high.
The problem was corrected when the sludge was spread as fertilizer onto an approved
area of land in December, Henson said.
Davis said it was the first time in two years the treatmentplant had applied the
sludge to land — something that is usually done at least once a year as a normal
part of operations.
Moreover, the Airport Commission only sought approval to apply 10,000 gallons of
sludge, which is a smaller amount than is usual, Henson said.
Henson said the Division of Water Quality did not catch the fact that the Airport
Commission's approved application of sludge had dropped because of a recent shuffle
of departmental duties at the agency.
"In our inspections, that's not something we looked at closely," she said. "Our
section was given new duties two years ago, and land -application permits were given
over to the Act for Protection section."
Davis said the Airport Commission has held a land application permit for years and
it is up to date.
The permit, which is renewed annually, allows wastewater treatment facilities to
spread sludge in approved amounts over approved pieces of land.
Staff writer Jennifer Calhoun can be reached [e-mail],or
486-3595.
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,Sludge from old Scotland plant flows into creek
Subject: Sludge from old Scotland plant flows into creek
From: susan massengale <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:03:56 -0500
To: Belinda Henson <[e-mail]>, DWQ Clips
<[e-mail]>
Well, the reporter almost got it right.
Sludge from old Scotland plant flows into creek
A staff report
ADVERTISEMENT
LAURINBURG — State officials are investigating an incident in which untreated
sludge poured into Shoe Hill Creek in Scotland. County.
The contamination happened Tuesday when an employee of the Laurinburg-Maxton
Airport Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant routed an undetermined amount of
sludge through an old pipe from a plant that was closed in the 1970s, said Susan
Massengale, a spokeswoman with the North Carolina Department of Environment and
Natural Resources.
The agency and the State Bureau of Investigation are investigating.
Massengale said state inspectors had been to the site before but had not seen the
old pipe because it was hidden under brush.
The department will do an environmental- assessment to check for damage, Massengale
said. The assessment will include taking samples of water, checking aquatic life
and studying bugs in the area.
The treatment plant was ordered to clear the brush surrounding the pipe and to seal
the area with concrete, Massengale said.
Massengale said the plant could face fines for the incident.
Paul Davis, executive director of the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport Authority, had no
comment except to say an investigation was under way.
Davis said the Airport Authority commission would meet at noon today for its
regular meeting. He would not say whether the incident mould be discussed.
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