Northwest Biosolids Education Committee published a PFAS Communication in November. This factsheet was made in partnership with the Northwest Biosolids Outreach Committee in their review of draft legislation regarding PFAS and Biosolids in Washington State. We hope this factsheet will be a resource and a tool for our members. If you have any questions, please email info@nwbiosolids.org.
A real purpose for biochar? We are making a shift this month- instead of talking about making char from biosolids we are focusing on using char to enhance the WWTP process. I have a very selfish reason for going deep into this topic. I have always been a big skeptic of biochar. I particularly get my hackles up when people talk about turning perfectly good biosolids into biochar- even if this may eliminate those 5 ppb of PFAS. However, I recently did a balance on nutrient flows in WWTPs and realized that most of the nitrogen going into a plant goes straight out with the effluent. Not good for circular economics or maintaining good relationships with Departments of Ecology. I knew that chars have caused N deficiency in agriculture- and started wondering if they could be used to absorb N from effluent. This library takes a dive into potential uses for char in the WWTP process.
An Update from the Field: Activities at WSU's Long-Term Biosolids Trials
By Madeline Desjardins and Dr. Deirdre Griffin LaHue, WSU Mount Vernon
This spring, the WSU team returned to Douglas County to collect soil samples for our on-going studies on the impacts of biosolids on soil health and crop productivity. Each year we collect stratified samples within the top foot of soil in order to explore how biosolids influence soil health within the root zone. We are collecting this data at both GP-17, our long-term trial started in 1996, and JS-14, our newer trial that incorporates cover cropping and grazing. This year we also took deeper samples at GP-17 to quantify the impact of biosolids on the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil.
Northwest Biosolids is requesting that all Utitlies Members to please complete the following information for your 2023 annual membership. Please enter your 2021 biosolids production by Tuesday, November 22, 2022.
NWB/MABA/NEBRA/Midwest Biosolids Association Joint Comment Letter for EPA
Dan Thompson and the Northwest Biosolids Outreach Committee partnered with the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association, the Northeast Biosolids and Residuals Association, and the Midwest Biosolids Association to create and submit a joint comment letter for EPA. The four associations were providing comments in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s request for public comments on the proposed rule to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Emergency Response and Compensation Act (CERCLA), published in the Federal Register on September 6, 2022.