A special joint legislative commission will study Rhode Island’s growing biosolids disposal challenges under legislation sponsored by Rep. Terri Cortvriend that was signed by the governor on Monday.
The effort aims to facilitate a comprehensive, statewide solution to what has been described as a looming concern over increasingly limited options for disposing of biosolids, or sludge — the solid, semisolid or liquid waste generated from wastewater treatment plants and facilities that treat water supplies or control air pollution.
“The options for disposing of biosolids are becoming more limited. There are many concerns about how to safely dispose of it, the expense to public agencies and the environmental and community repercussions of various methods,” said Cortvriend, a Democrat whose district covers Portsmouth and Middletown. “It’s a serious and complicated issue that affects virtually all communities, and it calls for examination and discussion by experts and stakeholders from around our state.”
Cortvriend last year sponsored successful legislation requiring anyone applying for a permit to spread biosolids on land as fertilizer to first test the material for PFAS, the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that contaminate land and water.
Under her resolution, the 21-member commission will study and develop recommendations for managing biosolids and wastewater byproducts across the state, examining costs to ratepayers as well as environmental and climate impacts. The panel is also tasked with identifying potential statewide solutions and future opportunities, such as the use of pyrolysis and other processes for biosolid disposal, and with delivering its findings and recommendations by April 1, 2027. The commission is set to expire June 1, 2027.
Stakeholders involved in a sludge management and pyrolysis facility proposed at Quonset Business Park, which has been put on hold, have agreed to take part in the study.
Many Rhode Island communities may soon face steeper challenges in disposing of sludge. The city of Woonsocket has been working to close a sludge incinerator there when its operator’s contract ends in 2027. That facility handles the biosolids of more than 15 communities and regional agencies across Rhode Island, including the Narragansett Bay Commission, plus others in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It is one of only two sewage incinerators in the state, the other a much smaller facility in Cranston. Rhode Island Resource Recovery also operates a small sludge recycling facility.
Cortvriend said that among the aspects she hopes the commission will study is whether the state should institute a formal siting process for sludge management facilities, similar to the public process used for siting power plants.
