By Glenn Harbison glenn@thenewsobserver.com
Copperhill, Tenn. – The delivery of biosolids to Copperhill Industries has been temporarily halted and Denali Water Solutions has been told to correct procedures before any more biosolids are spread at the site.
Kim Schofinski, deputy communications director for the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, confirmed via email April 26 that biosolids deliveries have been stopped and that the decision was made by the company’s owner. There was no reason given.
Channel 9 News reported on April 29 that Denali Director of Communications Samuel Liebl sent a company statement via email, saying, “The partnership between Denali Water Solutions and Copperhill Industries has been a great success and has restored vegetation on hundreds of acres for the benefit of wildlife and water quality.
“We have temporarily paused this work and are evaluating plans to resume operations so that the environment of the Copper Basin can continue to benefit from this reclamation process.”
Liebl denied the stoppage had anything to do with safety violations found by TDEC.
A letter from TDEC detailed those violations and demanded the problem be corrected. That letter, from John Newberry of TDEC’s Land-Based Systems, instructed Denali to improve its process for the site “to ensure that no biosolids are land applied without full verification that the material meets EQ standards via lab results.”
That letter was sent to Jeff Retzke, Denali’s senior director of environmental services for the Southeast Region.
It specified six dates in November and December 2023 when analytical results by TDEC Division of Water Resources staff members identified violations of the Vector Attraction Reduction standards in the two-hour pH measurements. Vector attraction is defined as the characteristic of sewage sludge that attracts rodents, flies, mosquitoes or other organisms capable of transporting infectious agents, according to the Code of Federal Regulations.
Schofinski added that there are stockpiles of biosolids on the Copperhill Industries property as well as equipment owned by Denali Water Solutions.
Biosolids concerns, specifically the odor from them, have continued among area residents for months, but found new traction after Lawrence Gale read from notes he said he created from a conversation with Ashley Pulley,
a professional engineer in TDEC’s Nashville office. His statements came during the April 25 meeting of the Polk County Board of
Commissioners.
Gale said Pulley confirmed biosolids shipments stopped March 25, the decision was made by the company’s owner, that Class A biosolids were stockpiled on site, that Denali equipment still existed on site, and there were no issues of concern when TDEC visited the site April 18.
His presentation led to attempts by The News Observer to verify the statements and determine any future plans. Inquiries were made of TDEC and Buddy and Sarah Haynes of Copperhill Industries. The Haynes did not respond.
A letter to the editor in The News Observer’s March 27 edition from east Polk County resident Ed Huber told how he was continually plagued by the smell “when the wind shifts.” He lives east of Ducktown.
The letter came on the heels of an editorial in The News Observer criticizing state Rep. Dan Howell’s lack of determination to make Polk County voices heard in the Tennessee Legislature. Katherine Farrow also addressed Howell’s lack of attention to Polk County residents when she said at the April 25 commission meeting that he “has not shown up and worked for the people.”
In a text message exchange between Commissioner Greg Brooks and Howell on Feb. 3, Brooks wrote, “Honest people have been calling the last two days saying yesterday the smell was terrible, and teachers were saying kids couldn’t go outside during recess.”
Howell’s response was he and Bradley County Commissioner Howard Thompson were in Copperhill from 9:15 until noon the day before. He wrote, “There are issues with the Copperhill waste treatment plant. That could be what they’re smelling.”
He added that Basin school principals had no knowledge of children getting sick or vomiting or they would have been taken to the hospital.
“I have no authority over Copperhill Industries,” Howell said.
Business owners and McCaysville, Ga., city employees had reported the consistent return of the biosolids smell in the early morning hours for about two weeks before the text exchange, a smell that has been independently confirmed.
Learning of Denali’s violations at Copperhill Industries, Polk County Commissioner Samantha Trantham, who has been the most vocal commissioner fighting biosolids, said, “While east Polk County residents are hopeful this is the beginning of the end for the spread of biosolids at Copperhill Industries, past actions dictate we must remain vigilant and skeptical.
“The biosolids application has wreaked havoc on our businesses, schools and community. I look forward to the day TDEC does the right thing and stops the spread of biosolids in Polk County forever.”