Yelton crusades against land application of sewer sludge

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Burlington Times-News has the story:

It was likely the first time someone dumped fecal matter onto the Burlington City Council’s desk in an open meeting.
Council members probably hope it’s the last.

Don Yelton, a member of the Environmental Investigation Coalition, stirred the waste into a vase of water – along with a number of dyes – to illustrate the problems associated with the land application of sewage sludge in Alamance and five other counties during the coalition’s presentation Tuesday night.

Yelton, along with coalition mem bers Dale Swiggett and Nancy Holt, wants Burlington to question its contracts with Synagro, a wastewater solids distribution company, and its disposal of sludge as farmland fertilizer. Land application is sanctioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and regulated by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Burlington’s sludge application permit was renewed by the state last summer.

The group spent more than an hour detailing issues with the sludge spreading. Most compelling was Holt’s statement that residents in a five-mile radius of her home in Orange County, near where Synagro applies sludge, have a 70 percent cancer rate. She told the council she now has a brain tumor and holes in her brain.

After she spoke, Holt had a seizure and had to be escorted from the council chambers.