The Town of Ocean City Wastewater Department, Maryland (the Town of Ocean City) currently has a permit for the distribution and marketing of a Class A, lime stabilized and heat pasteurized biosolid product in Delaware. 

The production of Class A biosolids product at the Town of Ocean City involves a stabilization process that utilizes lime (CaO) to raise the pH of dewatered biosolids to a pH of at least 12 S.U., followed by heat pasteurization within a reaction vessel.  The process renders a pasteurized, high alkaline biosolids product suitable for use as a soil amendment/liming agent for agricultural and horticultural uses.

To assure compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements, finished biosolids product is sampled for specific bacterial, chemical, and nutrient parameters.  The stabilization process and metals limitations meet or exceed both Federal and State requirements for production of a “Class A” Exceptional Quality” biosolids product, approved for public use and contact.  Land application of “Class A” “Exceptional Quality” biosolids may be made onto lands to meet Calcium Carbonate Equivalency (CCE) and pH requirements as indicated by an approved soil test.  

Town of Ocean City requests that the existing permit for the production of their biosolids product and the application program be renewed under the Department’s Guidance and Regulations Governing the Land Treatment of Wastes, Part III, B., Regulations Governing the Land Treatment of Sludges and Sludge Products, which allows for such activity pending public notice.

Copies of the draft permit referenced above are available by contacting:

Brian Churchill
Surface Water Discharges Section
89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901
302-739-9946
Brian.Churchill@Delaware.gov

A public hearing on the above application will NOT be held unless the Secretary of DNREC determines that a public hearing is in the public interest or if a written meritorious objection to the application is received by 4:30 p.m. May 1, 2020.  A public hearing request shall be deemed meritorious if it exhibits a familiarity with the application and provides a reasoned statement of the action’s probable impact.

---