BLUE PLAINS REGIONAL COMMITTEE
c/o METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
777 North Capitol Street, N.E. Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20002-4239
Phone: (202) 962-3200 Fax: (202) 962-3201
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Blue Plains Regional Committee
FROM:
Karl Berger KB
(202) 962-3350
Principal Environmental Planner
DATE:
March 16, 2011
SUBJECT:
Request for Approval of Year 3 Funding for Research Proposal “Drought Stress
Resistance Induced by Biosolids-borne Plant Biostimulants and Carbon and
Nitrogen Cycling under Varying Tillage Practices”
Committee members are asked to authorize funding in the amount of $111,600 for the third year of
an existing Virginia Tech University study of the impact of biosolids land application on crop stress
resistance and the sequestration of carbon in the soil. Funding for this project, if approved, would derive
from the Biosolids Research Task, which is budgeted at $130,000 in the FY 2011 BPRC Work Program
and Budget.
Background
In 2002, the Blue Plains Users began a research project designed to document the theory that plant
hormone compounds or related substances found in biosolids could provide benefits to crops in
addition to those provided by its nutrient and organic matter content. Previous project work with tall
fescue grown in pots in greenhouses has documented a connection between the levels of these
biostimulant compounds in biosolids and plant resistance to stress caused by drought. In 2008, the
BPRC approved the first year of a follow-up study primarily designed to study this phenomenon under
field conditions. The researchers applied biosolids and then planted corn in the spring of 2009. They
planted soybeans following the corn in the spring of 2010 and added a new site that was planted in
corn in 2010.
Results from the first two year of data collection (see 2nd-year project report) provide evidence that
using biosolids promoted greater physiological fitness and conferred greater drought tolerance
compared to the use of fertilizer. This was particularly the case in the 2010 growing season, when
much more severe drought conditions occurred than in 2009. Yields in the biosolids amended plots also
were higher than the fertilizer controls. The researchers expect to build on these results in the final crop
year of the study.
The researchers also are using the same experimental apparatus to study other aspects of interest to
DC Water, in particular, the potential for biosolids land application to build up reserves of carbon in the
soil. To the extent that this known process can be quantified, it will contribute to efforts to accurately
measure the greenhouse gas footprint of Blue Plains’ current biosolids management program and
inform decisions on future options.
Continuing to fund this research project would be consistent with the overall goals of the research
component of DC Water’s Biosolids Management Plan. In particular, this project will help to quantify
several major benefits of the use of biosolids for which peer-reviewed data is lacking. The researchers
BPRC Request for Approval - Year 3 Funding
Biostimulants Research Proposal (VA Tech)
Page 2 of 3
are studying both lime-stabilized and digested biosolids, making the results applicable both to Blue
Plains’ current end use option and potential future ones.
The attached 3rd–year budget details expenses of $111,600 for the final year of this project, which has
an overall budget of $317,256. (The research proposal itself remains the same as in years 1 and 2 and
is not attached in its entirety.) The BPRC has already funded $205,647 of this effort. Approval will allow
the timely conclusion of this project and the full realization of its research benefits. No further funding
for this project is anticipated.
This project is supported by DC Water and WSSC members of the BPRC’s Biosolids Workgroup (Chris
Peot and Gary Grey, respectively).
If you have questions about this project, I am available at (202) 962-3350 or by email at
kberger@mwcog.org.
Attachment:
Third-year budget for “Effects of Land Application on Drought Stress Resistance Induced by Biosolidsborne Plant Biostimulants and Carbon Sequestration under Varying Tillage Practices, ” a January 2011
proposal from the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech
University
BPRC Request for Approval - Year 3 Funding
Biostimulants Research Proposal (VA Tech)
Page 3 of 3
Effects of Land Application on Drought Stress Resistance Induced by
Biosolids-borne Plant Biostimulants and Carbon Sequestration under
Varying Tillage Practices
3rd Year Budget
NAME/POSITION
Xunzhong Zhang - (SRF)(CY)
GRA - Step 12
TOTAL PERSONNEL SALARIES
39%
100%
$18,978
$21,369
$40,347
FRINGE BENEFITS
FACULTY
GRA
TOTAL FRINGE BENEFITS
$5,972
$1,360
$7,332
TOTAL SALARIES & FRINGES
$47,679
TUITION and ACADEMIC FEES - AY
$10,104
TRAVEL
Domestic
$13,000
$10,250
MATERIALS & SUPPLIES
$8,000
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES
$11,879
TOTAL DIRECT COSTS
$90,662
TOTAL INDIRECT
Off Campus Research Rate -
$20,945
MTDC 26.0%
TOTAL COSTS
$111,607
indirect base
$80,558
I:\BLUEPLAINS\BPRC\2011\032411\Biosolids\BioResearchBudgetMemo-VTech_KB_031611.docx