Please add my name to those who are in support of Mr. Staudinger's proposed amendments.  I would like to further ask for an immediate moratorium on the spreading of sewage sludge in the name of free fertilizer.  How can it be that it is safe to spread sludge on the land, when it is no longer acceptable to dump this sludge in our oceans?   I have heard of how more stringent policies wil be intitiated to remove higher levels of wastes from the water discharged at sewage treatment plants in hopes of cleaning up and saving our beloved Cheasapeake bay.  Meanwhile, the sewage sludge will then be dumped back on the ground to leach into our waterways, and eventually pollute the bay anyhow!!  There is absolute ignorance in such a policy.

I am always apalled at how VDH sidesteps the issue of public safety when it comes to citizen exposure to biosolids.  It is a lie to say that the illlnesses that Virginia citizens have had to endure have not been linked to the exposure to the airborne pathogens and toxic materials found in land applied sewage sludge.  Where are the epidemiological studies that confirm, without a doubt, that human exposure to sludge is safe?  To my knowledge, no federal or state studies have been done.  We only have VDH and EPA saying they think it is safe to apply if regulations are followed.   As a private citizen, I could not revove the wastes from my septic tank and apply it to a field to use as fertilizer, so why should biosolid companies be able to do the same?  It is obvious that the larger muncipalities and biosolid companies have the desire to continue to operate in the same manner they have in the past, with no regard for the health, safety or quality of life of the rural citizens who have to endure this scam called biosolids.  In the light of our needs for energy independence, why are we not using sewage sludge to produce methane gas that can be burned to produce electricity as is happening in Los Angeles? 

In short, the continued land application of untreated sewage sludge is assault on the health of innocent Virginia citizens and our environment!

Anthony Pasciuta Jr.

Commonwealth Coalition