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Newsletter Archive - July 2002 ARTICLES OF INTEREST FROM THIS ISSUE
How the Walkerton report will impact WEAO members By Hershel Guttman, R.V. Anderson Associates Limited When Justice O'Connor released his Part Two report on the Walkerton Inquiry on May 23, 2002, you sat back and watched your drinking water colleagues scurry about trying to see what it all meant to them. Well, WEAO members, I have news for you! Of the 93 recommendations in the document, over 40% of them relate directly or indirectly to our membership's mandate. Indeed, the very first 17 recommendations were on source protection. These included the development of watershed-based source protection plans. These cover issues such as MOE responsibilities, funding, education, septic systems, individual farm water protection, cost sharing, and the regulation of other industries. This can simply be stated as pollution prevention, which is one of our key areas of expertise. There are other areas of direct relevance to WEAO members. For example, recommendation 32 speaks directly to us, as it calls for the government to "support major wastewater plant operators in collaborative studies aimed at identifying practical methods of reducing or removing heavy metals and priority organics (such as endocrine disruptors) that are not removed by conventional treatment." This is a direct challenge to academics, consultants, operators, and equipment manufacturers to develop new and more effective wastewater treatment methods for Ontario. Or consider the implications of Recommendation 68, which calls for the provincial government to "amend the Environmental Protection Act to implement the recommendations regarding source protection." The EPA is one of the two key acts governing pollution control in Ontario. Do you really think once the MOE starts to amend this Act that they will stop at source protection issues? What an opportunity for our membership, and indeed the Association to get involved with the MOE in providing technical assistance and advice. Consider some of the recommendations that relate to drinking water only, on the Role of Municipal Government (44-49), or Accreditation and Operational Plans (51-58). Does anyone think that after the government develops policies and regulations for drinking water on financial plans, limiting revenue sources to local means, and making municipal operating contracts public, that they will stop there? Or that preparing requirements for water system accrediting and operational plans will not sooner or later also apply to sewerage systems? I think it will be a matter of available resources, as to when (but not if), these recommendations also apply to the WEAO membership. Grandfathering of operators Another more direct example of this can be found in Recommendations 60 and 71. These relate to the grandfathering of operator certificates, and a requirement for water system licenses respectively. On the grandfathering issue, the recommendation calls for those who obtained their certificates "through the grandparenting process to become certified through examination within two years, and it should require operators to be recertified periodically." Certainly any changes made to operator certification on the water side will also be applied to the wastewater side, given that both fall under the same Act, and are administered by the same group at the MOE. Further, the issue of licensing municipalities to operate water systems will be a new concept for Ontario. At this time, the MOE issues Certificates of Approval to design and construct water supply and sewerage systems, with limited conditions relating to operations. Again, if the government develops a system of issuing owner licenses for operation of water systems, can the sewerage systems be far behind? The concept of licensing pollution control systems will have very wide implications for our WEAO membership, particularly those of us directly responsible for municipal pollution control. A call to action The one theme that runs throughout the Phase Two document, is the role of government. Of the 93 recommendations, 59 call on the provincial government or the Ministry of the Environment directly to take specific actions. This will make tremendous demands on the already overworked staff at the MOE. Reductions over the past decade in staff at all levels, but especially of the more senior experienced people, have left the MOE with very limited resources to carry out Justice O'Connor's recommendations. This should be of concern to the WEAO membership, as strong and equitable laws and regulations on drinking water and pollution control will dovetail with our commitments for pollution prevention and control and our mandate to protect the environment. Here is an opportunity for the WEAO, in cooperation with other environmental groups such as the Ontario Water Works Association, or Pollution Probe, to help the government meet the Premier's stated goal to implement all 93 recommendations. WEAO must get involved There are specific actions the WEAO can take. For one, speaking from the outside, and with industry credibility, the Association can address the internal MOE issues of organization, staffing levels (funding), communications, and training, by meeting with the very senior levels of the MOE. This should not only include the Assistant Deputy Minister, but the Deputy, the Minister himself, and his parliamentary secretary. Other more direct ways for the WEAO to contribute to implementing the Walkerton Phase Two recommendations would include Recommendation 15. It calls for the MOE to "work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, agricultural groups, conservation authorities, municipalities, and other interested groups to create a provincial framework for developing individual farm water protection plans." This is a direct call for our members, for the WEAO Board, and for its committees to get involved. The call should be heeded now, without waiting for a specific invitation. There are other areas to get involved as well. Why can't the Professional Wastewater Operators approach the MOE now about the issue of collaborative studies concerning heavy metals and priority organics? Indeed, the Board should set up a WEAO taskforce to address these emerging issues. The taskforce should be composed of academics, consultants, operators, equipment manufacturers, among others. Many more opportunities exist, both business and professional, for our membership to contribute to implementing Justice O'Connor's recommendations. I urge each member individually, and the WEAO Board collectively, to read the details of the Walkerton Phase Two Report. In it, you will find your future. Hershel Guttman has been a WEAO/WEF member since 1967. He is a past chairman of OWWA and a past AWWA director. North Bay students to represent Canada Richard Miron and Alex Omiccioli are the 2002 Canadian finalists for the International Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP). Richard and Alex, who are both seniors at Algonquin Secondary School in North Bay, Ontario, were awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Stockholm, Sweden, during World Water Week, August 10-16, 2002, where they will represent Canada in the international competition. The award includes a crystal sculpture and $5,000. Their project, CAST Chironomid Algonquin Sampling Technology, set out to test the water quality of Trout Lake, North Bay, Ontario. The City of North Bay is considering filtering its water supply because it is unsure of the continued water quality of its main reservoir, Trout Lake. This study suggests that the water intake should be moved closer to the 68m Basin to access extremely high quality raw water. Continued treatment of raw water using chlorination and ultraviolet light, may well meet all the Ontario Drinking Water Objectives and thus save the City millions of dollars in filtering costs. The students found that the microbiological assemblage method (originally proposed by Ole Saether in 1979) for characterizing water supplies is a much more accurate and reliable indicator than physical chemical characterization (phosphorus tests) presented by the Ministry of Environment. Based on this finding, they designed a cost-effective, highly efficient sampler. They call the system CAST (Chironomid Algonquin Sampling Technology.) "I was very impressed by the students' ingenuity in designing an improved lake sediment sampler. Furthermore, their ability to apply the sampling technique to a water quality monitoring program using bioindicators demonstrated a remarkable combination of academic knowledge and practical skills," explained Dr. Gordon Putz, nomination chair. The Canadian SJWP is sponsored by WEAO, the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, BC Water & Waste Association, Western Canada Water & Wastewater Association, and RÉSEAU environnement. First EMS workshop for biosolids held in Hamilton Biosolids News is a regular update on activities of the WEAO Biosolids Committee and information of interest related to the beneficial use of biosolids. Contributions should be directed to Stephen Nutt at: stephen@xcg.com or Janice Patterson at: janice.patterson@omafra.gov.on.ca. EMS for Biosolids Workshop Forty people attended the first EMS (Environmental Management System) for biosolids management workshop on April 24, 2002 at Hamilton Place. Registrants came from as far away as British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. The purpose of the workshop was to introduce to Ontario municipalities and consulting companies the objectives and scope of the demonstration program being carried out at the City of Hamilton, Halton Region and the City of Ottawa; the objectives, principles and the 17 elements in the Biosolids EMS developed by the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) in the US; the differences and similarities between the EMS for biosolids and the ISO 14001 environmental program; the experiences gained by the US demonstration program in 27 municipalities, and a case study in Fort Worth, Texas. A survey of the 27 participating municipalities in the US indicated that commitment and organizational barriers were the major impediments to success. Seventy seven percent of the respondents cited "competing high-priority assignments to develop and implement the EMS program," 55% cited "need more time to understand and implement the program," 41% cited "inadequate resources assigned to the program," and 32% cited "lack of understanding of what needs to be done," as the major impediments. Robert McMillon, the Assistant Director of Environmental Services of the City of Fort Worth, presented their experience with the EMS implementation program and the resources dedicated to develop and maintain the program. Fort Worth's Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant has a design capacity of 166 US MGD, and produces approximately 100 dry tonnes per day of lime stabilized "Class A" biosolids. To date, the City has successfully completed 18 steps in the EMS program, starting from establishing management commitments in August 2000 to conducting its first internal EMS audit and management review in April 2002. The remaining two steps, "initiate and complete corrective actions" and "apply for third-party verification", were carried out between May and July 2002. Mr. McMillon concluded that the EMS program is a critical component in the City's effort to continue maintaining and advancing the management efficiency and public confidence of its biosolids land application. The overall benefits realized to date include improved tracking and document control, economic savings through operational improvements, controls, monitoring and measurements, and improved public awareness and understanding of biosolids in general. Tony Ho, Chair of the Ontario EMS Demonstration Program Technical Steering Committee (TSC) would like to thank Robert McMillon, and the CH2M HILL/PA Consulting Group for presenting the workshop, and WEAO for organizing the workshop. Several more workshops will be conducted during and at the completion of the demonstration project to transfer knowledge and promote the program to Ontario municipalities. The TSC was made up of representatives from the three participating cities and project sponsors: Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Government of Canada's Great Lakes Cleanup Fund, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and representatives of three public/professional associations: Pollution Probe, the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors and the Center for Land and Water Stewardship. For a copy of the workshop presentations, contact Tony Ho at: hoto@ene.gov.on.ca Biosolids articles and reports worth reading Dr. Richard Stehouwer, Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection, conducted a three year study entitled Biosolids Effects on Soil and Crop Quality and found that metals in sewage biosolids do not pose health risks. The study evaluated soils and crop tissues in 20 farms throughout Pennsylvania that had received repeated applications of sewage biosolids. Results showed that there was no difference between metals concentrations in the crop tissues in the control and the treated fields; the soil metals concentrations were well below the risk-based cumulative pollutant loading rates established by the US EPA; and there was also no difference between fecal coliforms and extractable organic halides in the control and the treated fields. For more information: www.dep.state.pa.us/update/default.asp?ID=6408. Robert H. Dowdy published the results of a 20-year study in Minnesota, in the Agricultural Research Magazine. Each fall, researchers injected liquid biosolids into the soil used to grow corn and reed canarygrass. Crop yields were slightly higher in the fields receiving sewage biosolids than commercial fertilizers; no extra metals showed up in the corn or grass, except slightly higher levels of zinc which were well within safety guidelines and would be beneficial as a dietary nutrient. For more information: www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m3741/11_46/55386339/p1/article.jhtml. Dr. Edward Topp, Scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Branch, published two papers entitled Persistence of Estrogenic Hormones in Agricultural Soils I: 17b-Estradiol and Estrone and Persistence of Estrogenic Hormones in Agricultural Soil II: 17e-Ethymylestradiol. The studies were conducted to address the recent concerns with the application of sewage biosolids and animal manure on agricultural land as these nutrient materials are both synthetic and natural hormones which, at high concentrations, can exert endocrine disrupting effects on fish. The studies spiked 14C-labelled of these three hormones into three types of agricultural soils varying widely in texture and properties: a loam soil from London, a sandy loam soil from Delhi, and a silt loam soil from Holiday Beach, Ontario. The decrease in extractable concentration of these hormones was determined by HPLC analysis of soil extracts over a range of temperatures, soil pH, moisture and initial hormone concentrations. The studies concluded that these hormones would be rapidly oxidized and/or biodegraded in agricultural soils (in less than two months) under a range of conditions typical of a growing season in Ontario. The residual concentrations were either non-detectable or strongly bound to the soil and become non-estrogenic as indicated by recombinant yeast assay tests. These two articles can be obtained by contacting Tony Ho at: hoto@ene.gov.on.ca. The summaries were provided by Marc Herbert, Québec Ministry of Environment, and Dr. Edward Topp. Call for Papers The 2nd Canadian Biosolids Conference will be held April 23-25, 2003, in Penticton, BC. The conference offers an excellent forum for you to share experiences and showcase your organization's expertise to a focussed group of 250+ people. The conference will focus on areas that address public and regulatory concerns and directions, treatment technologies and site management practices for safe application of sewage biosolids, paper fibre biosolids, industrial residuals and animal manures, research studies to address nutrient material quality standards, interactions between nutrient materials, soil, crop and water qualities, public education and outreach programs, etc. Abstracts should be provided in MS Word format to Dave Forgie, Technical Program Committee Chair, at: forgied@burnaby.associated-eng.com, or by Fax: (604) 291-6163 before November 30, 2002. |
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