“Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act…A Job Well Done,” was the theme of the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA)’s annual conference and trade show held in Boston in January. But there was also a lot of focus on work that still needs to be done. The numbers of attendees and exhibitors approached pre-COVID numbers – over 2,000 people and 190 exhibitors -- and there was a lot of energy and excitement throughout the conference. Once again, North East Biosolids & Residuals Association members came out in force, with members making presentations, moderating sessions, exhibiting their equipment and services, and helping to make the conference a great success. 

There was a lot of educational content for biosolids/residuals managers at the NEWEA conference including two technical sessions dedicated to residuals, two technical sessions dedicated to contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) -- with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances being top of the list – two Government Affairs Committee sessions on regulatory efforts throughout New England, and a session on the Innovation Pavilion featuring biosolids-related technologies such as those being perfected by Bioforcetech Corporation and C-Green (both of which will be featured in NEBRA Lunch & Learn lineup for 2023). There were also numerous graduate and undergraduate student papers looking at various aspects of the PFAS problem.     

The first Residuals Management technical session, on the topic of PFAS impacts on biosolids, was packed. The first two presentations were specific to Maine facilities where the State legislature’s ban on recycling biosolids recently went into effect.  The last two presentations were about innovations in biosolids processing, including a presentation on developing biosolids processing technologies and one specific to gasification and pyrolysis. 

The second Residuals Management technical session on Tuesday morning was focused on residuals operations.  Presentations covered numerous topics including the annual U.S. Environmental Protection (EPA)’s annual biosolids reports, removing phosphorus from sludge using Struvite and Brushite recovery processes, an update on the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District’s Organics-to-Energy project, and some basics about using polymers and flocculants for thickening and dewatering wastewater solids.

The two sessions sponsored by the Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) committee were also well attended. NEBRA members from CDM Smith and the Town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, gave a great presentation on their PFAS source control efforts which involved developing a Nantucket-specific “PFAS cycle” to better understand and communicate PFAS transport around the island. They also used the PFAS cycle concept to come up with plans to most effectively and efficiently reduce exposure risks.        

The NEWEA Residuals Committee held a meeting at the NEWEA conference, which was the last for outgoing Chair Eric Spargimino, a NEBRA member from CDM Smith. PFAS was of course the big topic of discussion.  Justin Motta, another NEBRA member from Stantec, will be leading the committee for the next three years.  Finally, NEBRA was well-represented at the NEWEA PFAS Task Force which also met during the conference.

Proceedings from the conference should be available shortly at 2023 Annual Conference & Exhibit Archives - NEWEA - New England Water Environment Association.