Five years ago, with little fanfare, the members of the Virginia Biosolids Council created a document identifying practices we believed contributed to being a good neighbor. Every member of the Council approved our Code of Good Practice. Support of it became a requirement for membership. This was the first effort of its kind by any […]
The Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech will conduct three informational webinars later this year on biosolids. The webinars are designed to provide local officials – administrators and their staff, elected officials, planners, local attorneys and other interested individuals – basic information about biosolids. The Department of Crop and Soil Environmental […]
The National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) has honored three biosolids management organizations with the prestigious 10 Years Platinum award at WEFTEC® 2014 in New Orleans, La. The three organizations—DC Water of Washington, DC; Orange County Sanitation District, Calif.; and City of Los Angeles, Calif.—represent leaders in the industry for continuous improvement and best management practices in biosolids management. DC […]
A Pennsylvania state court has ruled against plaintiffs who claimed damages from the off-site odors and particulates from the land application of biosolids. The suit, filed in 2008, claimed that allowing off-site biosolids odors from a farm was negligent, constituted a legal nuisance and was a trespass. In issuing its December 28, 2012 Summary Judgment […]
Precision farming is becoming an increasingly important practice for many Virginia farmers. It utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology to provide crop yield mapping and monitoring, delineating boundaries and the ability to achieve far more precision and economy in applying fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, which reduces their impact on the […]
Kevin Engel is a farmer. And if measured by the number of counties he farms, a big one. Kevin oversees a farming operation based in Hanover County that now includes 17 Virginia counties and sales that extend to Japan, China and India, and ports in Morocco and Eastern Europe. In fact, about 70 percent of […]
It’s not unusual for a challenge or two to surface when doing site development for a major commercial or industrial construction project. What is unusual, however, is to uncover large amounts of acid sulfate soil, which results in acres and acres of barren land that will not support any vegetation. When the topsoil is removed, […]
In the 1950s the Davis brothers purchased about 1,200 acres along the Pamunkey River in New Kent County. Today that farm remains as productive as ever. Farmed by former extension agents—Paul Davis and his father, Clifton Davis—and other Davis family members, Davis Farms has become welcoming land for researchers from Virginia Tech and elsewhere who […]
In that case, the Supreme Court held in 2001 that the ordinance approved by the Amelia County Board of Supervisors had the effect of illegally preventing something that was authorized and regulated by state statute. Following that decision, the Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation that allowed any county or city to adopt an ordinance providing for the testing and monitoring […]
A study purporting to show a relationship between the land application of biosolids and human health appears to be nothing more than a collection of unverified complaints generated by anti-biosolids activists. The study, released on March 11, 2013, was authored by Dr. Steven Wing and others from the University of North Carolina and titled “Land […]