A local company that was granted a permit by state environmental regulators to operate a sewer sludge storage facility in Bartholomew County despite fierce opposition from residents said it is unsure when it plans to start building the facility or when it hopes to have it up and running.
Last month, state environmental regulators issued a permit allowing local company Biocycle LLC to accept biosolids and industrial waste products for blending at a storage facility in Bartholomew County and apply the blended waste products to agricultural land. Biosolids are organic materials produced during the treatment of human sewage at wastewater treatment plants.
The permit, approved by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, became effective July 16 and is valid until July 30, 2029, though the company can apply to renew it. Under the permit, Biocycle LLC can apply biosolids and other blended waste products to land in Bartholomew, Jackson, Decatur, Jennings, Johnson and Shelby counties.
The proposed facility will be located off of County Road South 525E.
When contacted by The Republic this week, Evan Daily of Biocycle LLC, who filed the permit application, said he was “not really sure yet” when construction would begin or when the facility would start operating.
“We’re just trying to go ahead and plan stuff and just continuing on,” he said.
Biocycle LLC was formed this past November and is based in Bartholomew County, according to filings with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office. Daily, who told state environmental regulators he has “11 years of experience with land applying biosolids for Columbus City Utilities,” is listed in business filings as a “member” of the company, though he listed his title as the company’s owner in an affidavit with IDEM dated Dec. 19.
Unknown sources
Currently, it is unclear where Biocycle LLC will source biosolids and industrial waste for its facility in Bartholomew County.
City utilities Director Roger Kelso said Thursday that Columbus City Utilities is not currently interested in supplying Biocycle LLC with biosolids from its wastewater treatment plants, “but it may be something we look at” in the future.
Columbus City Utilities produces about 1,200 wet tons of biosolids per month, Kelso said.
About half of that is applied to farmland in Bartholomew County, while some of the rest ends up at Medora Landfill & Recycling in Jackson County.
Any agreement between Columbus City Utilities and Biocycle LLC would need the approval of the Columbus Utility Board, Kelso said.
Daily said there are “other options around” for sourcing biosolids besides Columbus City Utilities, including accepting industrial waste, but declined to provide more details, adding IDEM has to pre-approve of the industrial waste that his facility accepts. In his permit application, Daily said the industrial waste that he might accept could include food, pharmaceutical or paper waste.
“I’m not going to put out anybody’s name,” Daily said.
Fierce opposition
Though the application of biosolids on agricultural land in Bartholomew County is not new, the proposal for the storage facility was met by fierce opposition this year from residents and some businesses in the area, including CERAland Park and Otter Creek Golf Course.
About 110 people attended public hearing on the facility at CERAland Park in April, with nobody in attendance speaking in favor of it. Nearly all the 80 public comments submitted to IDEM before the public hearing also were against it.
Some of the concerns from residents have included potential runoff from the facility could reach their properties and a nearby creek, as well as the unpleasant odor from the operation and concerns over whether the sludge could get into the aquifer that supplies water to Columbus.
Despite receiving “many comments” asking to deny or delay Biocycle’s application, IDEM granted the permit last month, with regulators arguing they are required under Indiana law to a approve permit request if they determine that it “complies with the applicable regulations.”
“IDEM can only deny an application when the application fails to meet the requirements of the regulation, and the applicant fails to submit additional information when requested,” IDEM stated in its decision to grant the permit.
IDEM also said that it could not deny the application based on concerns about the unpleasant smell the facility could generate or the possibility the biosolids contain long-lasting and highly toxic chemicals called PFAS that are linked to cancer and other illnesses because “there are no federal or state limits set for biosolids and land application.”
Sewage sludge may emit a distinctive odor depending on the treatment process and methods used. The odorous compounds generated and detected are most often ammonia, amines and reduced sulfur-containing compounds, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Meteorological conditions such as wind speed and direction, relative humidity and temperature can impact nuisance odors, according to the agency website. The EPA states the odors do not mean the biosolids pose harm to human health and the environment.
Columbus City Utilities, for its part, has said the application of sewage sludge on farmland poses a low risk for human health and city’s water supply provided “everybody follows the protocols they’re supposed to.”
Daily downplayed the controversy this week, emphasizing biosolids have been applied to agricultural land in Bartholomew County for decades.
“It’s something that we’ve been doing for years, and there are other farmers (in the community) as well that use (biosolids), too,” Daily said. “Rules and regulations will continue to be followed as they have been for many years.”
New ordinances ‘do not apply’
Amid the controversy over the proposed facility, the Bartholomew County commissioners passed two ordinances in May that regulate biosolid storage facilities.
One of ordinances requires proposed biosolids storage facilities in Bartholomew County to obtain a conditional use permit from the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals, which would consider requests on a case-by-case basis and be required to hold a public hearing on the proposal.
The other ordinance prohibits the importation, storage and application of biosolid material from anywhere other than Bartholomew County unless it is processed by the Columbus City Utilities’ wastewater treatment plant. Violators could face fines of up to $5,000 a day.
The ordinances, however, do not apply to Biocycle’s facility, said city/county planning director Jeff Bergman. That means Daily will not need a conditional use permit and is not restricted to only accepting biosolids and industrial waste products from Bartholomew County or Columbus City Utilities.
“By Indiana law, any proposed use that has already initiated the process of seeking approvals, including at the state level, is exempt from any new local regulations passed during that permitting process. So, because Biocycle had already applied for its IDEM approval, that state law prevented Bartholomew County from adopting any new regulations that would apply to the facility,” Bergman said. “The conditional use approval requirement would apply to future biosolids storage facilities that may be proposed in Bartholomew County.”
While Biocycle prepares to move ahead with the proposed facility, it is unclear if anyone has formally appealed IDEM’s decision. IDEM referred questions appeals to the Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings, which did not respond to questions about whether an appeal had been filed by press time Friday.
