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site are located on the 110 -acre farm which is her homestead. She emphasized that her family, her employees, and her farm animals are healthy. She stated that the farm is located on sandy soil with the water table less than 6 feet below the surface, and she gets potable water from the well on her property. She indicated that about 3 million gallons a year of treated septage and sludge are spread on her farm. She felt that her farm benefits from the land - spreading operation, and that she has saved thousands of dollars on fertilizer. It was Ms. Voss's opinion that the proposed ordinance is unnecessary because current laws and regulations are adequate. Commissioner Macht asked, and Ms. Voss confirmed, that the lime stabilization process kills viral agents. Don C. Scurlock, Jr., 1656 71st Court, Vero Beach, suggested that the Commission enact zoning ordinances restricting the areas where septage and sludge can be spread, and institute a procedure whereby septic tanks in the county can be inspected to make sure they are being pumped out properly and the drain fields are functioning properly. He did not want the Board to adopt an ordinance that would hurt Mr. McCullers, who spent thousands of dollars on a lime stabilization plant. Mr. Scurlock contended that the purpose of the proposed ordinance is to force the public to use a facility which is operating at far below capacity. He hoped that the Board would at least table the proposed ordinance and take the time to make -the right decision. . Tom Nason, Vero Beach city manager and utilities director, was opposed to the ordinance. He quoted statistics in support of land spreading as a safe and appropriate means of disposing of treated sludge, and he emphasized that most of the sludge in Florida is spread on land. Mr. Nason discussed a 1983 meeting of 200 health and environmental scientists who arrived at a public consensus that existing guidelines and regulations were adequately protective of the public health and environment. He noted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prefers land application as a beneficial use of sludge. He was confident that the EPA will continue to issue regulations that protect the environment, and he felt that it was highly unlikely that the government would allow sludge spreading to continue if it was hazardous. Mr. Nason mentioned that the new regulations effective on February 19, 1995, arose out of a 15 -year study which was accelerated in 1986 when the Clean Water Act was enacted. He indicated that the City of Vero Beach has initiated a pre-treatment program, and that all of the City's sludge has minimal amounts of regulated materials and meets the criteria for land application. 19 JAN 25 1994 BOOK 91 r -m, S5