Instead of using animal manure to fertilize his fields, one Carbondale farmer has recycled the city’s sewage for several years.

Eric Sheilds will be able to continue the practice for at least five more years after the Carbondale City Council approved a five-year farming lease with him. Sheilds will be able to renew the lease every five years with approval from the council.

Sheilds has farmed the land at the Northwest and Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plants since 1998 when it was leased to his grandfather. He then took out a lease of his own in 2008, which ended in April.

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The new agreement with the city requires Sheilds to load, transport and dispose of the sludge, a treated product of the city’s sewage, and mow the area that is not farmed. In exchange, Sheilds will not have to pay rent for the property.

“This is a good deal for the city,” councilwoman Jane Adams said. “And not just by dollars and cents but this will remove that waste.”

Without Sheilds using the sludge, the city would have to take it to the Jackson County landfill which would cost the city $23 a ton. The ordinance proposal estimated disposing the sludge for five years would cost $71,010 with the cost of loading and transporting.

Resident Rich Whitney asked the council to rethink letting the sludge be used as food fertilizer, as he lives near one of the plants and has concern with how much the sludge has been treated.

“We’re all in favor of human waste being recycled, but people flush all kinds of things,” he said.

Whitney said when the sludge is piled before it is used on the fields, there is a strong odor.

Sean Henry, the city’s Public Works director, said the sludge is treated so well and often at the plants that the Environmental Protection Agency labeled it a Grade A sludge.

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“There are very strict standards for the quality of sludge,” Henry said. “It is all tested very regularly.”

He said sludge has to be incorporated in the soil within five to eight days of being treated but there might be a window when it is sitting at the plant. He said if the sludge is not dry enough it could cause a smell.

Sheilds asked the council for the possibility of renewal in this lease because he purchased more than $100,000 in special equipment to incorporate the sludge in the soil.

After some discussion, council members unanimously approved the renewal section of the lease as long as he came before the council every five years.

The city council’s consent agenda was unanimously approved. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Carbondale City Hall on Nov. 5.