O'Brien v. Appomattox County, Virginia

213 F. Supp. 2d 627, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14196, 2002 WL 1772975
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedAugust 2, 2002
DocketCiv.A. 6:02 CV 00043
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 213 F. Supp. 2d 627 (O'Brien v. Appomattox County, Virginia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Brien v. Appomattox County, Virginia, 213 F. Supp. 2d 627, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14196, 2002 WL 1772975 (W.D. Va. 2002).

Opinion

*629 MEMORANDUM OPINION

MOON, District Judge.

I.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. For the reasons stated below, the motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiffs are eleven farm or farm operators in Appomattox County, Virginia. The lead Plaintiff, Mr. Tommy O’Brien (“O’Brien”), is a cattle farmer in the County who wishes to apply biosolids to 322 acres of farmland, which he uses partly for pasture and partly for hay production. Defendants are Appomattox County (“Appomattox” or “the County”), the Board of Supervisors for the County, and Darrell A. Carroll, Jr., County Administrator. Plaintiffs have brought this lawsuit to challenge two County ordinances that relate to the use of “biosolids” (also known as “sewage sludge” or “sludge”) as a commercial agricultural fertilizer. During the pendency of this case, Plaintiffs seek a temporary injunction, prohibiting the County from enforcing either of these ordinances against the farmers who have brought this suit.

Biosolids are the solid, semi-solid, or liquid byproducts culled from waste water treatment facilities. Treatment plants, particularly ones near major cities such as Washington^ D.C., or New York, NY, face difficulties in disposing of these byproducts. The facilities usually deposit the sludge in landfills or incinerators. However, after being treated to remove as many pathogens and carcinogens as possible, biosolids can be applied to a farmer’s field as a substitute for commercially available fertilizers. Many in the farming community have responded enthusiastically to the use of biosolids. Because biosolids are trucked to farms and land-applied at no cost to the property owner, they provide farmers with an effective, nutrient-rich fertilizer for free.

Not surprisingly, the use of treated, hu-ndan waste on agricultural land has raised some questions as to its health and safety. There are concerns about bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, arid other pollutants that may find their way into public waterways. Additionally, a Virginia Tech report notes that, “[bjiosolids, even when properly treated, will have odors .... [that] may be objectionable, even to rural communities accustomed to the use of animal manure.” The report concludes, however, that “the preponderance of scientific evidence indicates that land applying biosolids of the quality currently generated according to the regulations established by the U.S. EPA and the Commonwealth of Virginia will not result in significant detrimental health or environmental impacts.” Thus, many in the scientific community, insist that there are no cognizable dangers to the public, so long as sludge is properly treated before application. Other researchers, however, reason that it is impossible to declare biosolids safe or unsafe without further study.

Nevertheless, the above-ground, land application of sludge has been practiced for several decades in Virginia, the United States, and Europe. The practice is regulated by the federal government through the EPA, and by the State through the Virginia Department of Health (“VDH”). According to VDH, in 2001, 42,400 acres of land in thirty-three Virginia counties were fertilized with biosolids. The number of farmers who use biosolids continues to grow, and if the practice were to begin in Appomattox, the County would become the thirty-eighth Virginia county to use bioso-lids. To date, biosolids have never been applied to Appomattox County farmland.

On August 6, 2001, VDH received a “technically complete request for issuance *630 of a Biosolids Use Operation Permit” from Synagro Mid Atlantic, Inc., (“Synagro”), a “residuals management company.” Shortly thereafter, on September 4, 2001, the Board of Supervisors of Appomattox County held a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to regulate the land application of biosolids. On September 10, 2001, Nu-tri-Blend, Inc., another biosolids provider, submitted its application to VDH for a Biosolids Use Operation Permit. The race between the Board of Supervisors and the biosolids community was on.

On February 4, 2002, the Board adopted an ordinance (“the zoning ordinance”) creating the “Agricultural A-l Intensive Farming Overlay District.” Land application of biosolids would be tightly regulated within the new zoning district. Biosolids would be wholly prohibited anywhere else in the county, including land zoned Agricultural A-l that had not been designated as an Intensive Farming Overlay District. Currently, eighty-percent of the County is zoned Agricultural A-l. There are no areas that have been designated for the use of biosolids. To be re-zoned as an Intensive Farming Overlay District, a land owner would have to apply to the County directly, much as if he or she were seeking a special use permit.

On March 18, 2002, the Board adopted a second ordinance (“the police powers ordinance”). The stated purpose and intent of this regulation was to “establish a procedure whereby the land application of Class B biosolids may be monitored to ensure compliance with all applicable state and local regulations.” The ordinance would require, among other things, that a bioso-lids contractor “filed a Contractor Pledge with the County no less than twenty-eight (28) days prior to submitting an application for a Biosolids Use Permit to VDH.” In addition, the ordinance prohibited the above-ground application of sludge, and instead required that any application be done through direct soil injection. Finally, the Board made no secret of its opinion about biosolids usage. Section 95-1 of the ordinance noted that “it is the intent of the Board of Supervisors to immediately impose a ban on land application of biosolids, if the General Assembly or the Virginia Supreme Court modifies current law to grant localities the authority to enact such a ban.”

On March 29, 2002, VDH approved both the Nutri-Blend, Inc., and Synagro, Inc., Biosolids Use Operation Permits. The permits noted, however, that “Conformance to all local zoning and planning requirements is to be addressed separately by [the permit holders] with the County.” Plaintiffs signed agreements with either Nutri-Blend or Synagro, Inc., for those businesses to apply biosolids on their fields, in accordance with the VDH permits. On June 28, 2002, claiming that the County’s ordinances effectively prohibited the application of biosolids despite the existence of the permits, Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit.

II.

In deciding whether to grant a preliminary injunction, this Court should consider: 1) the likelihood of irreparable harm to Plaintiffs if the request for an injunction is denied; 2) the likelihood of irreparable harm to Defendants if the request is granted; 3) Plaintiffs’ chance of success on the merits; and 4) the public interest. See MicroStrategy Inc. v. Motorola, Inc., 245 F.3d 335, 339 (4th Cir.2001); Blackwelder Furniture Co. v. Seilig Mfg. Co., 550 F.2d 189, 195-97 (4th Cir.1977). In considering these four factors, “the first step ... is for the court to balance the likelihood of irreparable harm to the plaintiff against the ‘likelihood’ of harm to the defendant.” Blackwelder,

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Related

Recyc Systems, Inc. v. Spotsylvania County
64 Va. Cir. 68 (Spotsylvania County Circuit Court, 2004)
O'Brien v. Appomattox County
71 F. App'x 176 (Fourth Circuit, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
213 F. Supp. 2d 627, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14196, 2002 WL 1772975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/obrien-v-appomattox-county-virginia-vawd-2002.