Take Action!

September 1, 2008

My husband and I have worked a combined total of 72 years. We live in the Stagg Creek Subdivision in Mebane, North Carolina. Everything we have is in our home.

My complaint is about the sludge permit issued at 4191 Dickey Mill Rd. We understand that this property belongs to LeAnn Land Company and is leased to Morris Meadows, a cattle company. Nine years ago, we bought land in a housing development, not a cattle ranch. This tract of land was not being farmed and there was no cattle business. The land was being developed for housing.

We are a residential community that includes many elderly and children. The spreading of Class B sewage sludge from Mebane on this land is decreasing our home and land values. Our health, ground water, way of life, and peace of mind have been drastically jeopardized. We are all concerned about our well water.

When this sludge is spread, I cannot go outside. My eyes get irritated, my nose burns, and I get a sore throat with a cough and headache. Imagine living where the stench is so unbearable that you cannot go outside to walk, garden, play basketball, sit on the porch, or picnic. Nobody will visit. You are a prisoner in your own home. The only relief is to leave the property.

Sewage sludge cannot be regulated. This application is so dangerous that cattle cannot graze on the land for 30 days and people aren’t supposed to walk on it for a year after it is applied. Little orange flags used for setbacks cannot stop the water runoff when it rains. Those flags cannot stop thousands of flies that spread diseases, infection, and germs. They cannot stop the wind that carries particles of sludge that we breathe into our lungs. They cannot stop the nasty stench you can smell for miles. You cannot regulate what you cannot control.

Rain-water runoff goes into Stagg Creek which feeds directly into the Graham-Mebane Lake. As the crow flies, this lake is about a half mile from the sewage sludge field.  This lake is the drinking water supply for Mebane and Graham.

Alamance County and Mebane, you need to get off your haunches and protect us. It is your job to provide us with the same quality of life that the City of Mebane enjoys. It is your job to keep us safe. We feel we have been neglected. We think that what you are allowing to happen is morally wrong.

We have had enough! We will not tolerate how we are being treated. We want the sludge permit revoked immediately and forever.

We are part of the Mebane community. Mebane, please set an example and do the right thing.

Brenda Clemmer, Mebane, NC 27302

cc: North Carolina Division of Water Quality