The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum County residents on Tuesday urged the county board of commissioners to adopt an ordinance regulating the application of biosolids on land in the county.

Commissioners Blair Brady, Dan Cothren and Lisa Marsyla listed to the public input and could act on the ordinance as early as their meeting next Tuesday morning.

Commissioners asked Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow to draft an ordinance after citizens reacted to a Long Beach septic hauler who applied for a permit to deposit septage, the lowest of three grades of treated sewage, on Phil and Sulema Zerr's Elk Mountain Ranch, Grays River.

The proposed ordinance mandates that septage not be applied in flood prone areas or near wetlands or streams.

The state Department of Ecology regulates application of biosolids. Department officials reviewed the proposed ordinance and, in a letter, commented they felt it is unconstitutional because the legislature made the department, not counties, responsible for regulating biosolids (see related story in this issue).

Citizens urged the commissioners to adopt the ordinance and take on the state in court, if necessary.

Rosburg resident Carol Larson summed up the citizens concerns: The area has much rainfall, and floods are unpredictable. The floodwaters could penetrate the leaky mains of the Western Wahkiakum Water System, she said, and thereby put all its customers at risk.

Al George, Grays River, added that the proposed site would be closed to grazing domestic animals for 30 days, but wild animals could graze on the site and eat septage that hadn't been absorbed and become ill.

P.J. Fleury, Puget Island, supported the ordinance, calling it a means for the county, not the state, to control what occurs in the county.

"Without the ordinance, all other counties could dump here," he said. "We need an ordinance so we can control what goes on in the county."

Several other speakers repeated similar points.

Two persons, both in the business of dealing with sewage, supported the ordinance.

Jeff Wilson, Longview, said he had read about the ordinance and came to comment as he has spent years in the hauling and dealing with septic waste.

The county shouldn't close doors to the application of biosolids, which can be done safely, he said.

Late in the meeting, Claude Noyes, who is applying for the state permit to spread the septage on the Zerr farm, commented that he understood people's concerns but felt the septage could be applied safely. He added that he would be happy to go beyond the state requirements in monitoring for viruses, metals and other contaminants that people fear will show up in septage. He also suggested extra monitoring for nitrogen, so that nitrates don't build up in the area.

Noyes added that he wouldn't sue the county if it adopted the ordinance.

Cathlamet Mayor George Wehrfritz said the town council didn't support or oppose the ordinance, but they wanted the county to be careful in how it regulates, for the town's new wastewater treatment plant could be designed to handle septage and Class A and B biosolids. The town might also want to apply biosolids to its timberlands, as other municipalities do, he said.

All residents and governmental entities in the county need to look to the future and see what technologies can be used in the county, he said.

Commissioners said they would consider the ordinance at their next meeting. They could adopt it then or send it back for revisions.

Commissioner Dan Cothern indicated he favored the ordinance or some way to control biosolids.

"There are too many unknowns," he said. No one knows what adverse effects the biosolids might have on wildlife, and no one knows for sure that there won't be impacts on human health.

"Maybe 10 or 20 years down the road, I don't want to hear of something that has happened to the health of the people because of a decision I made," he said.

Commissioner Lisa Marsyla said she was concerned that there might be a suit if the county adopts the ordinance. "I'm concerned that the legislature didn't get it right," she said.

"This ordinance doesn't ban biosolids; it just regulates where they could be applied," Commissioner Blair Brady noted for the crowd. "The ordinance could be changed in the future."