CHAPEL HILL - Residents of western Orange County started asking about the black goo being spread on local fields in the late 1980s.

Twenty years later, the Orange County commissioners are asking questions too. After a study aimed at assessing biosolids safety fell through, the commissioners have agreed to hold a public forum to get "an unbiased perspective" on the latest research.

"If we at least have enough people from each side to duke it out, then we might get some information," said Commissioner Steve Yuhasz.

"I think it should be clear that we invite debate," said Commissioner Barry Jacobs.

The county health department proposed the forum earlier this year. Health Director Rosemary Summers proposed using part of $10,000 set aside for the pilot study to organize the forum. But the commissioners wanted more time to discuss the plan, after some concern was raised the line-up of speakers might favor biosolids.

The issue is a difficult one for county government, caught between farmers and citizen and environmental activists.

Many farmers allow wastewater treatment operators including the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, to deposit nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich biosolids on their land as free fertilizer. Others such as residents-turned-activists Nancy Holt and Myra Dotson say the biosolids, or treated sewage sludge, causes health problems.

The county hoped to begin finding answers with the pilot study with the UNC School of Public Health. But the study never happened. Farmers either wouldn't offer land or the land they did offer proved unsuitable to measure runoff. By the time the county recently tried to revive the study, the researchers said the $10,000 was insufficient.

All, told, 3,000 acres in Orange County are permitted to take sewage sludge, ranking Orange County fifth among the state's 100 counties for acreage able to take biosolids. OWASA applies its more highly treated biosolids to land it owns as well as privately owned land. Another five wastewater treatment operators use primarily private land, according to the county.

Two choices

The commissioners had two choices at a recent meeting: either hold the forum or form a task force to further study the issue.

Some wanted the task force, which they said could be a first step toward lobbying the state with other local governments for more regulatory control.

"If this is really dangerous, let's get people together to go the state to change some of the views we have," said Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier.

Commissioners Alice Gordon said she still wanted to see a local pilot study done. So did Sue Dayton, an organizer with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, who has been lobbying the county on the issue.

Biolsolid testing only measures for certain toxic metals, fecal coliform and nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen. It does not test for pharmaceuticals flushed down drains and other materials that can end up in the waste stream, Dayton said. "Most people who know about this issue they're either on one sde or the other," she said.

Commissioner Pam Hemminger said a task force could answer three questions: Is it safe, should we be doing it and what should we be doing about it?

But new County Manager Frank Clifton cautioned against a major expense and said a well-promoted forum could get the kind of attention the commissioners want.

"This is not an issue for Orange County,' Clifton said. "This is an issue statewide. ... The real question I have is how much money do you want to spend on this, because I guarantee you could spend a bundle."

State sludge study

Money is also an issue for the legislature, which has asked the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to review how much sludge is being spread and "whether changes in the permitting process are needed to protect rural communities from toxic waste," according to House Bill 945.

Right now, counties have little regulatory control.

"Anyone who can get a permit can dump -- spread, excuse me -- sludge wherever the permit allows it," new Orange County Attorney John Roberts told the commissioners.

The legislature allocated no funding for the state study, which an agricultural department official said will limit its impact.

"It really covers the whole waterfront of the issues related to sewage sludge application," said David McLeod, assistant commissioner for policy and legal affairs. "But no money was provided to do it."

Plus, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources regulates biosolids, McLeod said. So ti's likely the two departments will work together to recommend what kind of study needs to be done.

No date has been scheduled for an Orange County forum. Summers, the health director, said N.C. State University may also be organizing a biosolids forum and there may be an opportunity to make such a forum statewide.