By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Guam Waterworks Authority has assured the public that its water treatment plants are safe.
GWA’s assurance came after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the weekend cited GWA for improperly reusing sewage sludge from its Northern District Sewage Treatment Plant.
According to the USEPA, it found out that the sewage sludge from the treatment plant was distributed in violation of the Clean Water Act.
But according to GWA, the disposal practice for which it was being cited was unilaterally ceased by GWA in August 2006, in recognition of non-compliance issues.
Since that time, GWA said it has disposed of sewage sludge or wastewater treatment plant biosolids in the Ordot dump.
Prior to August 2006, GWA occasionally delivered biosolids to individuals in the community to be mixed with mulch and used as fertilizer.
Although this is a common practice for the disposal of biosolids in the United States, GWA acknowledged that it did not follow regulations regarding testing, reporting, and prior USEPA approval that is required by regulation.
But GWA said preliminary testing and recent follow-up testing of biosolids from its treatment plants does not indicate any health or safety concerns associated with these past practices.
In addition to this testing, GWA said it is distributing notices to individuals that have received biosolids from GWA delineating specific guidelines to be followed regarding their usage as fertilizer.
In some instances, GWA said it is recollecting distributed biosolids for disposal in the Ordot dump.
The USEPA is now requiring GWA to implement a formal plan to address the reporting and testing requirements.
The plan must be submitted to the USEPA for approval and GWA is working diligently to create the plan that will address each and every requirement set out in the USEPA order.
This order prohibits GWA from using the sludge for land application without prior USEPA approval and requires notification to the land owners of site and harvesting restrictions.
GWA also needs to provide a description of how the sewage sludge was applied and have tests done measuring sludge quality with respect to pollutants and pathogens.
When properly treated and processed, sewage sludge becomes biosolids which can be safely recycled and applied as fertilizer to improve and maintain productive soils and stimulate plant growth.
But the USEPA said only biosolids that meet stringent federal and state standards can be approved for use as fertilizer.