News stories in NEBRA’s archives for 2019 begin and end with PFAS. Is PFAS the Alpha and Omega for NEBRA? Let’s hope not! However, 2019 was a particularly active year with respect to PFAS legislation and regulations. NEBRA has been on the forefront of the PFAS issue since 2017.
2019 was also a year of major changes for the organization.
In February 2019, EPA released its PFAS Action Plan. Some could argue it was better late than never, but, in the interim, the States (especially in New England) moved to fill the regulatory void. NEBRA began to observe and report on disruptions in biosolids recycling programs as states moved to regulate PFAS in the form of Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for drinking water and numerical limits for ground and surface waters, as well as, in one case, screening levels for land-applied biosolids.
On March 22nd, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) issued a moratorium on land application of biosolids. MEDEP required testing of all biosolids being land applied and set a soil screening limit for PFAS above which biosolids could not be applied. In Maine, where water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) have been beneficially recycling biosolids for decades and have made major investments in advanced treatment practices and quality controls to improve the quality of the biosolids, this action caused major disruptions and uncertainties for biosolids producers and management companies.
In late April, the MEDEP backed down from its strict moratorium on land application, allowing for the distribution of compost produced using biosolids. This allowed the Hawk Ridge recycling facility and others to sell composted biosolids. But outlets for a large portion of Maine biosolids remained uncertain and limited and so prices for disposal begin to rise. To support its members in Maine, NEBRA initiated a study to better understand the fate and transport of PFAS from biosolids to soils for use in discussions with regulators. Around the same time in New Hampshire, the Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) shut down a permitted septage management facility that had been operating for over 30 years with no issues after finding PFAS in wells of neighboring properties. The facility has yet to resume operations, eliminating a significant outlet for septage disposal.
On a more positive note, in the midst of all the biosolids market chaos, NEBRA hired a new Executive Director. Janine Burke-Wells took on the role starting on May 28th. She took over the association management functions, freeing up Ned Beecher to focus on special projects, including PFAS issues. She also began visiting members and getting to know their concerns while learning as much as possible about PFAS and its impacts on biosolids management around the region. (Janine visited with members in every state in New England in 2019 and plans to visit with NEBRA members in the eastern Canadian provinces in 2020.)
PFAS continued to be the main topic of discussion over the summer of 2019. NEBRA developed sampling and analysis guidelines for PFAS in biosolids and organized a training session in collaboration with NHDES, which was held in Franklin, New Hampshire on June 28th. Ironically, on that same date, NHDES announced its final proposal for the nation’s lowest enforceable drinking water MCLs, which automatically become groundwater standards under New Hampshire law. NEBRA continued through the summer to collect and enhance PFAS information on its members-only website and develop projects to assist members on this issue. NEBRA assisted members with comment letters and testimony on legislative and regulatory activity focused mainly on the northern New England states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
On September 30th, the day new water quality regulations for PFAS were to take effect in New Hampshire, a coalition of municipal, farm, and company interests sued to halt their implementation. Following discussion and a vote by NEBRA members at the annual business meeting on October 17th, NEBRA joined the battle by submitting a “Friend of the Court” brief in support of the plaintiffs. This legal action served to slow down the implementation and enforcement of New Hampshire’s proposed MCLs. But the battle continues.
Once again, NEBRA teamed up with the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA)’s Residuals Management Committee to host the annual biosolids conference, which was held in Springfield, Massachusetts, on October 17th and 18th. PFAS-related topics, of course, took up the entire second day of the conference. PFAS brought more attendees and exhibitors to the conference this year and has increased NEBRA membership in 2019.
In November, NEBRA was invited to attend a Biosolids Convening Session hosted by the Water Environment Federation near its offices in Alexandria, Virginia. Later in the month, the New Hampshire Superior Court agreed that NHDES did not conduct an adequate analysis of the costs and benefits of the new MCL regulations. The Court disagreed with the plaintiff’s other claims. NHDES has appealed the ruling and the court case continues into 2020. (View all the official court filings here, inserting in the search field the Docket # 217-2019-CV-00650.)
That same month, NEBRA completed the Mass Biosolids/Sludge Survey 2018, a data compilation and report on the quantities and disposition of biosolids in Massachusetts. An updated version, with one correction in influent flow data, is now available on the NEBRA home page, along with the data spreadsheet, and will be available soon on the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center website.
Also in November, the Boston Globe published an article with the headline: “Toxic chemicals can be dumped into the Merrimack River, federal and state officials say,” which resulted in the City of Lowell’s wastewater treatment facility no longer accepting leachate from a landfill in New Hampshire. Following on the heels of this article, the Globe published another negative article in early December about PFAS in the Class A biosolids fertilizer produced by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. NEBRA provided the reporter with a lot of information and documents, most of which were not used. NEBRA followed up that story with a letter to the editor which was published in the Globe on December 5th (details on this and other PFAS information is at https://www.nebiosolids.org/pfas-biosolids).
In December, NEBRA notified its members from Massachusetts that the Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) is proposing very low drinking water MCLs for several PFAS chemicals, making it the 4th state in New England to do so.
2020 promises to be busy with more legislative and regulatory actions around PFAS. NEBRA will continue to monitor all of these developments and advocate on behalf of our members for common sense solutions to the PFAS problem. Members can access our reorganized, updated restricted-access PFAS webpages through the ‘Members Only” menu item at the upper right of https://www.nebiosolids.org (contact the NEBRA office for access).
And while PFAS is consuming and newsworthy perhaps, NEBRA continues plenty of other work. Ned Beecher has special projects underway on
• compiling national biosolids use and disposal data, funded by a U. S. EPA grant;
• assisting in review of a report by the Virginia Department of Health on pathogens and potential health effects related to biosolids land application;
• assisting with biosolids data and planning projects for several members;
• providing webinars and presentations at conferences (yes, mostly on PFAS again this year, but on other topics too).
NEBRA’s Board and Executive Director are developing plans for initiatives in the areas of member engagement, training/education, and outreach. With respect to PFAS, NEBRA is part of The Receivers Group (an informal collaboration between drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, and energy sector leaders) with plans for legislative and public outreach efforts in 2020. Looking even further ahead, NEBRA is fast-approaching its 25th anniversary in 2022. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the Board on how to celebrate this milestone, please email Executive Director Janine Burke-Wells.