THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080384
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
To encourage people to reuse treated wastewater instead of pouring it into rivers or sounds, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission is scheduled to vote in Raleigh today on proposals to change wastewater regulations.
New standards being considered today for wastewater that may be sprayed on residential lawns, golf courses, playgrounds, parks and roads would allow a monthly average of 14 fecal coliform colonies per 100 milliliters and a daily maximum of 25 colonies.
Staff members also have suggested requiring a 50-foot buffer between spray areas and adjacent dwellings, and a 100-foot buffer between spray areas and shellfish waters.
Scientists had planned to propose increasing the acceptable level of fecal coliform from 5 to 200 parts per 100 milliliters. They also had wanted to decrease the required buffer distance between effluent spraying and shellfish waters from 100 to 10 feet.
But after receiving criticism and comments from across the coast, state regulators revised their recommendations.
The reduced recommendations, state staff wrote in the proposed regulations, were suggested ``to build and ensure public acceptance and confidence in the use of reclaimed water.''
Those standards, some say, are still not strict enough.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example, says that ``no detectable fecal coliform'' level should be found when recycled wastewater is being used on golf courses, parks, residential lawns or playgrounds. According to that federal agency's ``Guidelines for Water Reuse,'' the number of fecal coliform colonies should not exceed 14 per 100 milliliters at any time. That's 11 parts less than what the suggested state standard would allow on a given day.
The North Carolina Coastal Federation wrote state scientists this month urging them to adopt the national standards for reused wastewater.
Other individuals and groups, including the Kitty Hawk Town Council, also have asked that the strictest standards possible be applied to acceptable fecal coliformlevels in wastewater sprayed on North Carolina public areas.
``The new recommendations are a whole lot better than what they originally were. But we want the average level to be zero,'' Kitty Hawk Mayor Clifton Perry said Wednesday. ``The Food and Drug Administration says 14 is the maximum acceptable level for shellfish. Our standards should be at least that strict.
``They won't let you use this water to spray your crops. Why should they let it spray our shellfish?'' Perry asked.
``A seafood platter should be just as free from harmful bacteria as the salad which accompanies it.'' ILLUSTRATION: WATER RULES
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission is scheduled
to vote on proposed changes to wastewater reuse rules today in
Raleigh. If you would like more information about these rules, or
would like to comment on them, write Donald L. Safrit, Assistant
Chief for Technical Support, Water Quality Section, N.C. Department
of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 29535,
Raleigh, N.C., 27626-0535; fax him at (919) 733-9919, or call him at
(919) 733-5083.
by CNB