LYNCHBURG -- Chris Peot walked over to a steaming pile of biosolids, grabbed a chunk with his bare hands and broke it apart to show the material's intimate details.

"I'm doing this just to show how innocuous this stuff is," said Peot, biosolids director for the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment plant in Washington.

Up close, the treated sewage sludge is fibrous, almost like blackened paper pulp. From afar, it's like a pile of mud that changes color and releases steam when exposed to the air.

Peot's biosolids were applied to a Campbell County field for the first time Thursday, more than a year and a half after the proposed sludge treatments prompted a bitter controversy among Campbell residents, farmers and officials.

The debate, which triggered a citizen proposal to ban corporations from spreading treated sewage sludge fertilizer on county farmland, resulted in a testing and monitoring ordinance in line with state standards.

On Thursday, 14 trucks -- each carrying about 25 tons of biosolids fresh from the Blue Plains plant -- dropped their loads of the thick, black gunk. Three more similar-size deliveries will arrive by Tuesday, Nutri-Blend Inc. spokeswoman Mary Powell said. The material will treat about 134 acres of Gladys pastureland owned by G.D. Gilliam. It is Campbell's only farm with permits to receive the sludge.

The inaugural application drew officials from various agencies, including the Virginia Department of Health, Department of Environmental Quality and Campbell County.

The idea was for those in attendance to answer any questions from concerned residents, Powell said.

"I thought today went pretty smooth," said Campbell County environmental manager Brian Stokes. "I didn't see any issues."

Contrary to popular belief, the material is not spread in a solid, thick layer, Peot said. Chunks are flung from a manure box spreader, which leaves a smattering of small black blobs on the field.

Instead of the anticipated sewage stench, the pile was ammonia-scented up close.

That odor is the result of the treatment process, Peot said. Not all biosolids are treated the same way, and some wastewater plants produce sludge that has a different odor, he said.

In January 2007, more than 400 packed a public hearing to protest Nutri-Blend's proposal to increase the amount of permitted land in the county to almost 3,000 acres.

Most were concerned that the sludge could contain toxins and harm the environment. Testing standards based on federal requirements examine a small amount of potential toxins, namely certain heavy metals that are easily detectable. Peot said he wants to increase testing at the Blue Plains plant to monthly rather than quarterly, but that hasn't occurred.

Biosolids is the name for the solid remains from the wastewater treatment process. Once the suspended solids, including human waste and paper, have been isolated, it's then treated with lime to kill 95 percent of pathogens and allow the material to decompose. The result is a slow-releasing nutrient fertilizer that's free for farmers, Powell said.
Sarah Watson is a staff writer at The News & Advance in Lynchburg.