James Dunbar
President
Darrell Winans
Vice-President
Ben Nydegger
Secretary
Terri Prather
Treasurer
Tania Gheseger
Past President
Deidre Bartlett
Cat Gowan
JR Inman
Karla Guevarra
Mike Van Ham
MacLeod Pappidas
Mike Gates
Rebecca Singer
Education Committee
Cat Gowan, Chair
Rebecca Singer, Biofest Chair
JR Inman
Sally Brown
Karla Guevarra
MacLeod Pappidas
Mike Gates
Dave Kenney
Terry Alber
Membership Committee
Mike Van Ham, Chair
Alan Aplin
Darrell Winans
Terri Prather
Mike Gates
Jason Duffin
Outreach Committee
Rebecca Singer, Chair
Deidre Bartlett, Vice-Chair
Steve Wilson
MacLeod Pappidas
John Lavery
Research Committee
Tania Gheseger, Chair
Erika Kinno, Vice-chair
Ben Nydegger
Tyson Schlect
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Project Engineer
Engineered Compost Systems
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Field Operations Maintenance
Lakehaven Water & Sewer
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Electrical & Control Systems Manager
Lakehaven Water & Sewer
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Do you have a job opening you want advertised? NWB members can email job postings to amy@nwbiosolids.org
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Northwest Biosolids
Calendar of Events
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Biofest 2023: Northwest Biosolids’ 35th Biofest!
Tues., Sept. 26th- Thurs., Sept. 28th, 2023,
Campbell’s Resort in Chelan, WA.
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Recognizing Steve Wilson's Northwest Biosolids Board of Directors Tenure |
Northwest Biosolids would like to extend our gratitude for Steve Wilson and his tenure on the Northwest Biosolids Board of Directors. Although we will miss having Steve on the Board, NWB is thankful and excited to announce that Steve Wilson, Brown & Caldwell, will continue to serve on the Northwest Biosolids Outreach Committee. Steve has been involved with Northwest Biosolids for many years and has advocated for the Biosolids Community tremendously, especially in the realm of regulations. Steve's longtime service and support to the biosolids community are matched by his love of music (he's in a band!) and life in the outdoors. Thank you for your years of Board Member service, Steve! We look forward to your continued work on the Northwest Biosolids Outreach Committee and as a Biosolids Advocate! |
Environmental Justice
By Dr. Sally Brown, University of Washington
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Welcome to spring and planting season! Time for something other than doom and gloom. Yet another example (and here I give it away) where we are the solution and not the problem. Environmental justice (EJ) is a real thing. Soil contamination is a real thing. The question is how and where do they intersect. The second question is where biosolids and composts fit into this picture. Urban soil contamination in the context of community gardens and urban agriculture is the focus of the May 2023 library. This is an important topic and an opportunity. Plus, I needed a break from PFAS. |
The Complexities of Quantifying Soil Carbon Sequestration
By Deirdre Griffin LaHue, Assistant Professor of Soil Health, Washington State University
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Soil carbon sequestration is increasingly a focus in agricultural and environmental research and policy as a strategy for mitigating climate change. Indeed, soils are the largest terrestrial C sink, storing approximately 2500 gigatons (Gt, or billion metric tonnes) of carbon, 4-5 times more than the vegetative pool (~500 Gt) and ~3 times more than the atmospheric pool (~800 Gt; Trivedi and Singh, 2018). Carbon is stored in soils primarily as soil organic matter, which is 50-58% carbon. Globally, soil organic matter stocks have declined in some places as a result of intensive agricultural use, soil moving, and development/urbanization. Thus, there is an intense focus on building back soil organic matter, both for the purposes of soil carbon sequestration and for the many ecosystem and agronomic benefits that soil organic matter provides. |
Northwest Biosolids is Growing Research - Invitation to Submit Research Project Proposals |
Northwest Biosolids has another funding opportunity to help expand research into all our member areas. Our members told us that biosolids beneficial use research is a priority and that quantifying climate change benefits and quantifying economic benefits of biosolids are key areas of interest. This year, we have committed $90,000 to our research grant program that was launched last year. Northwest Biosolids is providing this funding opportunity to existing members and new members and their researcher partners that have interest in biosolids and related topics. The deadline for proposal submission is Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
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Biofest 2023 Registration Open! |
Northwest Biosolids is looking forward to Biofest 2023! Biofest 2023 will be Tues., Sept. 26th- Thurs., Sept. 28th, 2023, at the beautiful Campbell’s Resort in Chelan, WA. Registration is now open!!!
If you have any questions or are interested in being a sponsor, please email amy@nwbiosolids.org.
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Many of our members are grappling with what to do about PFAS and are unsure what steps to take. Other members have forged forward with testing and source identification. We’ve developed this survey to gain a greater understanding of what utilities in our region are doing and facilitate the exchange of knowledge about PFAS efforts. If you are interested in sharing more information with us, please fill in your contact information at the end of the survey!
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Joint Letter Sent to Senate Urging CERCLA Liability Exemption |
Attached is a joint stakeholder letter addressed to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works leadership on the need to provide liability exemption for clean water sector and other public sector passive receivers under CERCLA for PFAS chemicals. The letter was sent to committee leadership in anticipation of Senate draft committee legislation.
Specifically, the letter urges that any PFAS legislation the committee develops include a specific provision that "ensure that the organizations we represent are explicitly recognized as “passive receivers” of PFAS and afford these essential public services a narrow exemption from liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)."
The letter explains that without such an explicit exemption, the designation of PFAS as a hazardous substance under CERLCA "would shift the “polluter pays” principle of the law to that of a “community pays” model placing the burden of compliance and cleanup onto ratepayers and the public at-large."
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The Toilet Lid & Seat of Your Dreams |
Point of Shift (POS) is currently toying with the idea of bringing fun, funky and well-designed toilet seats to market because they believe "thrones" need more design and whimsy. They value your opinion and would appreciate your thoughts on toilet seats in this survey.
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