Recently, concerned citizens filled a town meeting when a 2.8 million gallon sludge storage facility was proposed for the town of Mitchell. A moratorium was placed on building any sludge storage facility in the town pending further study. We were trying to provide some answers at the workshop so people could respond to the issue intelligently. When nitrate levels in groundwater are higher than normal, people tend to have a knee-jerk reaction and blame sludge as the culprit. In general, sludge has gotten a bad rap.
Citizens also have questions about oversight.
There is a fear that DNR may not protect us. In addition, citizens are concerned about fecal coliform bacteria, the effects of applying sludge with heavy metals to farm land, and nitrate pollution of groundwater. He recommends that people annually test their well water to assure its quality and develop a long-term water quality record. We have 10,850 families on private water supply systems in Sheboygan County. We also have a lot of urbanites moving into the area with no awareness that they need to test their water.