State Programs to Control Municipal Sludge

Abstract

State controls on the disposal and utilization of municipal wastewater treatment sludge are cataloged and analyzed. Data gathered through reviews of documented state regulations and guidelines, and supplemented by contacts with state officials, is summarized for sludge landfilling, landspreading, distribution and marketing, thermal processing, ocean dumping, and lagoons/stockpiling. Results point to the states' track record of following federal leads in developing sludge management programs. State programs are noted to focus on the more common disposal and utilization practices of landfilling and landspreading, while other widely practiced operations, including distribution of marketing of sludge, remain largely uncontrolled.