Your friends and future neighbors at Synagro want

to make sure you have the facts about our proposed Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center

Synagro has proposed building a biosolids drying facility on the Grand Central Landfill property in Plainfield Twp. The plant would use waste heat from the Green Knight Energy Center to dry up to 400 tons of biosolids each day.

The drying process would create a pellet that can be used in the place of coal as a fuel, or as a fertilizer or soil amendment. Synagro operates nine plants that create these pellets in the United States, including at our plant in Philadelphia. The biosolids pellets are used in many common lawn and garden products, including ones you can buy at your local home center.

Many people hearing the term ”biosolids” for the first time have questions. These questions are reasonable given how little most of know of what happens when our sewage leaves our home or workplace, how our communities’ wastewater treatment plants work, the regulations that govern this industry and protect our environment, and what happens to the byproducts of this process.

BIOSOLIDS IS NOT HUMAN WASTE

FACT: Biosolids use recycles the nutrients in our food back to the land, the same way nature does. It is an endlessly renewable resource restoring carbon and nutrients to the land for the good of the planet. Although the terms “biosolids” and “sewage sludge” are often used interchangeably, they are not the same material. At a municipal wastewater treatment plant, gravity separates the solids from the liquids and then both are treated and cleaned using advanced engineering technologies that replicate nature’s cleaning powers. Treatment plants then use microorganisms and other natural processes create clean water and primary and secondary solids. The solids created during the separation processes are known as sewage sludge. Sewage sludge that is tested and safe to recycle can then be turned into biosolids if it is further treated to eliminate pathogens. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines biosolids as “nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility... that can be recycled and applied as fertilizer to improve and maintain productive soils and stimulate plant growth.” https://www.epa.gov/biosolids

IT IS ILLEGAL FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TO BE IN SEWAGE SLUDGE

FACT: The Clean Water Act (CWA), as amended in 1972, established the basic structure for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States. The CWA gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry and have since expanded to ensure public safeguards for the beneficial use of biosolids. As such, municipal biosolids programs are helping to transform how wastewater utilities operate by significantly reducing impurities before they enter the system. The federal Pre-treatment Program successfully reduces impurities to insignificant levels by empowering wastewater treatment plants other agencies to issue permits to, inspect, and take enforcement action against polluters. These regulations have resulted in

industrial entities installing pre-treatment facilities at their sites, changing their processes to assure that they do not create polluting discharges, or, in many cases, taking a combination of these steps. This has resulted in the constituents of water received at treatment plants being consistent, and free of pollutants, over time.

BIOSOLIDS IS A TREATED MATERIAL, NOT RAW SEWAGE SLUDGE

FACT: Biosolids are treated to exacting safety standards set forth by the EPA and state regulatory agencies and are regularly monitored by producers to ensure compliance with the highest quality standards in all federal, state and local regulations. Biosolids undergo a rigorous set of treatment processes that include physical, chemical and biological processes to eliminate harmful elements and any potential pathogens. These processes include the use of advanced engineering technologies that use extreme heat, pressure and biological processes to remove pathogens found in wastewater and ensure the resulting product meets or exceeds the same safety standards required for all fertilizers and soil products. Processors must certify, under penalty of law, that biosolids meet all USEPA and state standards before distributing the material.

BIOSOLIDS IS AN EXCELLENT FERTILIZER

FACT: Biosolids are a proven and effective alternative to chemical fertilizers because they do more than just replace chemicals with a more natural substitute. Rich in macronutrients, biosolids improve the soil tilth, microbial health and allow for the slow release of key nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous needed for plants to grow well. Biosolids are very high inorganic matter and vital micronutrients essential to our environment and farming economy. Farming communities receive significant economic benefits from biosolids as they are a cost-effective and sustainable way to safely and effectively fertilize crops.

PENN STATE SAYS BIOSOLIDS IS SAFE

FACT: For decades, biosolids have been used safely and effectively to reduce waste, recover natural resources and improve soil conditions because they are held to exacting safety and quality standards. Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies over the course of decades have shown that biosolids are a safe and natural way to improve our soils and reduce waste. Penn State researchers conducted a comprehensive survey of biosolids that were land-applied in Pennsylvania. The results of that survey are summarized in the fact sheet found at the following website: http://extension.psu.edu/plants/crops/esi/biosolids-quality

CLASS A BIOSOLIDS IS SAFER THAN CLASS B BIOSOLIDS

FACT: Biosolids generally come in two types – Class A and Class B. Class A biosolids are treated to the strictest regulatory standards and are completely safe to use in agriculture or residential settings, including home gardens and lawns. . Class B biosolids are also treated to very high safety and quality standards, but contain low levels of pathogens that rapidly die when exposed to soil and sunlight. Therefore, Class B are typically limited to farmland with site restrictions where the material is mixed with soil to help fertilize and condition the land for healthier crops. Class B biosolids is also subject to

crop harvesting restrictions and site controls, which together constitute the approach for the control of pathogens in land applied Class B biosolids.

THE EPA SAYS APPLYING BIOSOLIDS ON LAND IS SAFE

FACT: In response to a 2003 petition for a moratorium on land application of biosolids by the Center for Food Safety (CFS), EPA found “no evidence to substantiate the claims they [CFS] make concerning land-applied sewage sludge. Petitioners do not present scientifically-based evidence or documentation that links the land application of sewage sludge or chemical pollutants allegedly contained in sewage sludge to human health and environmental impacts that are described in the petition.” http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/sewagesludgepetitionresponse12-22-03.pdf

BIOSOLIDS DO NOT MAKE PEOPLE SICK

FACT: As a result of its “search for evidence on human health effects related to biosolids,” the NRC’s (Natural Resource Council) 2002 report concluded that “there is no documented scientific evidence that the Part 503 rule has failed to protect public health“; “[a] causal association between biosolids exposures and adverse health outcomes has not been documented“; and “there are no scientifically documented outbreaks or excess illnesses that have occurred from microorganisms in treated biosolids.” In reviews and regulatory reviews since the NRC report was released, no research has found biosolids land application to result in adverse health impacts. https://www.epa.gov/biosolids/epa- response-national-research-council-nrc-report-review-technical-basis-chemical-and

BIOSOLIDS AFFECTS PEOPLE LIVING NEAR THE SITES

FACT: The EPA requested that the National Academy of Sciences review the current biosolids management practices, public health concerns and regulatory standards, and concluded that "the use of these materials in the production of crops for human consumption when practiced in accordance with existing federal guidelines and regulations, presents negligible risk to the consumer, to crop production and to the environment."

In the years since the 2002 National Academy of Sciences’ study, research scientists and EPA have continued to evaluate the potential risks to human health and the environment from use of biosolids on soils. There continue to be no findings of significant harm from biosolids recycled in accordance with regulations and best practices. The potential risks being evaluated by that research - such as microconstituents in biosolids - are much smaller potential risks than those that were addressed by the original EPA risk assessment for elements and chemicals. Because of more than 40 years of research and experience, biosolids recycling to soils has become a mainstream way of managing the byproducts of wastewater treatment.

BIOSOLIDS CAN BE RECYCLED OR DISPOSED IN MANY WAYS

FACT: Municipalities can still choose incineration and/or disposal of biosolids in landfills. Each of these options has related air emissions impacts on human health and the environment, and does nothing to

recover the valuable nutrients and organic matter in the material. Recycling biosolids is both the safest and most environmentally sustainable way to manage the material.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about biosolids and Synagro’s proposed Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center.

Synagro is committed to providing its community with up-to-date project information and requests that you return to this Facebook page periodically to learn more about the project and for the latest information about its progress.

You also are welcome to visit our project Web page at www.synagro.com, our Facebook page, or to contact Project Developer, Jim Hecht at [email protected].