By LAUREN L. DILLARD
Of the News-Register

HOPEWELL - Creek swales, schools and backyard gardens all border Jerry Ditchen's 740-acre Hopewell-area hay operation, located not far from the Polk County border in Yamhill County. So it raised eyebrows among some of his neighbors when the Ditchen family began taking preliminary steps toward fertilizing the acreage with Class B biosolids from Salem's Willow Lake sewage treatment plant.

"We are concerned as neighbors," said Wallace Road resident Janice Turner - concerned enough, in fact, that a community meeting on the issue has been called for 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Hopewell Community Church.

The meeting will be a followup to a Wednesday afternoon meeting led by Paul Kennedy, the state Department of Environmental Quality's biosolids coordinator, and Paul Kennedy, his city of Salem counterpart, Mark Johnston. Held at the Ditchen hay farm, it attracted 35 locals.

Biosolids are what's left over after raw sewage has been treated to remove heavy metals, reduce pathogens and ward off rodents and insects. The city has been offering the sludge-like material to Marion County farmers for decades as a fertilizer for crops not intended for human consumption.

Many cities dispose of biosolids from their treatment plants that way, including McMinnville. Some charge transportation or application fees, but Salem does not.

A possible arrangement between the city and the Ditchen family, which also has about 1,250 acres in vegetables, berries and grass seed, is still in its early stages. The first step is obtaining a DEQ permit.

"In terms of the process, we are just starting," Kennedy said in a Thursday phone interview.

Kennedy said Wednesday's informal town hall represented an unusual step for the agency. "Meeting with neighbors, in a group like that, isn't typical," he said.

He said the meeting was held in hopes of answering questions and quelling fears about biosolids. If so, it wasn't entirely successful.

"He waffled on a lot of things that we wanted to know," Penny Walsh, owner and operator of the Hopewell Bed & Breakfast, said of Kennedy. "I don't think anybody walked away from the meeting comfortable."

One issue is the level of pathogens present. That's what distinguishes the Class A biosolids produced by state-of-the-art plant serving McMinnville and the Class B biosolids produced by the older plant serving the two-county Salem-Keizer area.

McMinnville spreads biosolids on more than 300 acres in at least five locations, all within a five-mile radius of its treatment plant, according to operator Matt Young. However, it holds a Class A rating, which ensures a lower level of pathogens.

Willow Lake, which serves more than 200,000, is not able to meet the Class A biosolid standard. According to the Oregon State University Extension Service, though, biosolids are more heavily regulated than animal manure, which is not tested for human pathogens despite wide use as fertilizer on farm fields.

The DEQ establishes buffer zones for dwellings, outbuildings, wells, waterways and neighboring crop lands, based on the conditions and concerns identified in a particular case. It does not allow application on food crops.

In the case of Class B biosolids, use is limited to lands barring public access and featuring limited traffic. No animal access is allowed for 30 days after application, which comes in the fall, after the harvest has been completed.

Speaking for the city of Salem, Johnston said that should serve to offer neighbors the kind of assurance they are seeking. "The issue that I saw there is that we are dealing with perception," he said.

"It needs to be said that we are a regulated entity and the biosolids program is extremely regulated," he said. "Our policy is to be good neighbors."

Johnston said, "Class B is acceptable to the farming community. What happens with Class B is that it becomes equal safety-wise to Class A through site restrictions and crop and grazing restrictions."

The Extension Service agrees, saying in a document on the subject, "After land application, pathogens in Class B biosolids are killed by exposure to sunlight, drying conditions, unfavorable pH and other environmental factors."

That's not enough assurance for Turner, who is worried about the potential for exposure and chemical build-up. She said no one seems to have done any long-term studies on the material, and that concerns her.

"On one side of the fence, they are wearing protective gear and on the other they're not," she noted.

The material is attractive to farmers because it is a rich source of nitrogen. The Ditchens would have to spread 96 tons of Urea 4600 fertilizer on their 740-acre hay operation to get equivalent value, and it would cost them $94,000.

What's more, they would have to cover the cost of application, either by land or air, separately. Like other cities turning treatment plant waste into fertilizer, Salem handles the application itself.

"We deliver it," Johnston said. "We budget for that. We apply it, we manage it, we do everything."

The Ditchen hay farm is large, closed to the public and off the beaten track. Those kind of qualities make it an ideal location, he said.

Walsh said it sounded like the neighbors were being penalized for making their homes in such a bucolic setting. "Because we live in a rural area, does that mean we get shafted with the nasty stuff?" she asked.

For his part, Johnston appealed to neighbors to form opinions rooted in facts rather than fears.

"You don't build good relationships if you don't do the right thing," he said. "This good neighbor policy works both ways. How good of a neighbor are you being if you aren't listening to facts?"