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| 03 November 2009
SLO County Planning Commission Bans Sewage Sludge Land Application on Open Space Lands
At its Oct. 23 meeting, the SLO County Planning Commission approved Open Space Policy OS 2.4, which prohibits land application of sewage sludge and composts containing it on open space lands in SLO County. The Commission is conducting hearings on the County's new Conservation & Open Space Element (COSE) of the General Plan. OS 2.4 is in the Open Space chapter. Staff recommended the prohibition.
The prohibition is consistent with proposed County policy restricting land application exclusively to agricultural-zoned lands producing food and feed and used for grazing.
The prohibition stems from the recognition that unmanaged land application of materials containing sewage sludge poses an unacceptable risk to public health and environmental integrity. This is due to the toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and pathogenic pollutants concentrated in sewage sludge, which persist in the environment.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors will have the final say on OS 2.4 and the COSE.