Appeals court rules farmers may spread sludge on fields

A federal appeals court in Richmond has ruled that Appomattox County cannot stop 11 farmers from spreading treated human waste on their fields.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court Thursday upheld an injunction issued by a lower court that barred the county from preventing the farmers from applying the treated waste, or sewage sludge, to their farmland.

The farmers filed a lawsuit against the county last year in which they argued that the county's ordinances that restrict the use of sludge are effectively a ban and are incompatible with state and federal regulations. U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon in Lynchburg agreed and issued an injunction ordering the county to let the farmers spread the sludge.

The county appealed Moon's decision, claiming that allowing the farmers to spread the sludge would pose health risks to residents. But the appeals court ruled that "the fear of possible, adverse health effects is too attenuated at this time to outweigh the likelihood of harm to the farmers" from not being allowed to use the material.

View full press release (pdf) 94KB

View full appeals court decision (pdf) 38KB

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