Spreading Sewage Sludge

[Warnesworth]

I was talking to a farmer today who was having some sludge delivered and spread by a well known contractor. I casually asked if the deployment was in place and the reply was "no, the contractor says I don't need a deployment".
I made my excuses and left.
I know a little bit about deployments having submitted them for 3 years (not for sewage though) and was/am convinced you need one for sewage sludge. I have checked online and cannot find anything about sewage sludge having an exemption.

Can anybody point me in the right direction?
Ta.

 

[Mdt]

@Dusty Neil

 

[Punch]

What's a deployment? Severn Trent field finder comes around, you tell him which fields & area, they mark water courses & boreholes/wells. They then tell you area spreadable, tonnes per field @ 24t/ha and decide on where to stack heaps. You contact them when crop off etc.
Sewage sludge now is a whole lot better than in the past & their spreading contractors are better too.

 

[Dusty Neil]

Warnesworth, most sewage sludge is applied under the 'Sludge use in a
Agriculture' regulations. Typically deployments are used when sludge is mixed with composted greenwaste to make the finished product more stable for stockpiling or spreading. That's when a benefit statement has to be submitted to the EA along with soil sample results (nutrients and pte's) sludge/greenwaste mix analysis, maps with stockpile locations, risk assessments a the LPD1 application form and a payment of a approx £800 to the EA.
Sludge use in Agriculture regs is less onerous to do but equally as regulated.

 

[franklin]

Should sludge be stockpiled though? I was under the impression that it fell into the same rules as muck heaps - ie cant be stacked on fields within x metres of a land drain.

 

[Brisel]

Should sludge be stockpiled though? I was under the impression that it fell into the same rules as muck heaps - ie cant be stacked on fields within x metres of a land drain.

You're right - it does. Wessex Water always ask this before deciding tip sites. There's plenty of British farm land that isn't drained.

 

[Wastexprt]

Warnesworth, most sewage sludge is applied under the 'Sludge use in a
Agriculture' regulations. Typically deployments are used when sludge is mixed with composted greenwaste to make the finished product more stable for stockpiling or spreading. That's when a benefit statement has to be submitted to the EA along with soil sample results (nutrients and pte's) sludge/greenwaste mix analysis, maps with stockpile locations, risk assessments a the LPD1 application form and a payment of a approx £800 to the EA.
Sludge use in Agriculture regs is less onerous to do but equally as regulated.

What he said

 

[Wastexprt]

Should sludge be stockpiled though? I was under the impression that it fell into the same rules as muck heaps - ie cant be stacked on fields within x metres of a land drain.

Needs to be notified under the EA exempt system as well, as an S3 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-s3-storing-sludge

 

[Punch]

Needs to be notified under the EA exempt system as well, as an S3

I think on the old SP5 there was a tick box to use if applying SS as well. I ain't seen anything on BP5 online. Have I missed it? Or is it not necessary to tell RPA as they monitor the EA system?

 

[Wastexprt]

I think on the old SP5 there was a tick box to use if applying SS as well. I ain't seen anything on BP5 online. Have I missed it? Or is it not necessary to tell RPA as they monitor the EA system?

Not sure about the RPA system, but as long as you have the exemption that's the main thing

 

[Mr Charisma]

We found a couple of lads who had been messing around by the heap of sludge in one of our fields last summer ,,,,,, had been there a few months so had a good crust on it , anyway the one lad had bet the other lad free beer at the pub all night if he could run over the heap

He got half way.

 

[Wastexprt]

We found a couple of lads who had been messing around by the heap of sludge in one of our fields last summer ,,,,,, had been there a few months so had a good crust on it , anyway the one lad had bet the other lad free beer at the pub all night if he could run over the heap

He got half way.

 

[Warnesworth]

I think the original question has been missed, I understand the deployment system and know how it works, I have submitted hundreds of them.
What I am asking is if you are spreading sewage sludge do you need to have a deployment under a standard rules permit(SR2010 no.6, I believe) or is there an exemption, which I cannot find?

 

[Wastexprt]

I think the original question has been missed, I understand the deployment system and know how it works, I have submitted hundreds of them.
What I am asking is if you are spreading sewage sludge do you need to have a deployment under a standard rules permit(SR2010 no.6, I believe) or is there an exemption, which I cannot find?

Compliant bio-solids are spread to land under the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 and do not require a deployment. Storage of sewage sludge under these rules are covered by an S3 exemption registered with the EA.
The SR2010#6 is for the application of sewage sludge to;

• non-agricultural land; and
• agricultural land used for the production of non-food crops not grown in short term rotation with food crops.

An application made under SR2010#6 would require a deployment to be submitted.

 

[Warnesworth]

Perfect, thanks.