Some call it sludge. Others prefer the term biosolids.

Regardless of its name, it's treated sewage sludge used in place of chemical fertilizers -- and if you live in Bedford County there is a new tool to find out if your neighboring farm is a state-permitted site to receive it.

A database of about 130 permit holders was posted on the county's Web site Thursday.

County spokesman Bill Hoy said residents provided the data and the county will update it as new permits are approved.

However he cautioned that a permit does not mean the product actually has been spread at every location.

Just because "they have been granted a permit ... they may never apply biosolids," Hoy said.

Sludge was at the center of heated debates in Bedford County in summer 2007 when the board of supervisors adopted an ordinance to monitor the application and storage of the product in the county.

Some residents who spoke against the application of sludge said they feared it could cause adverse health effects. But many farmers disagree.

"I feel spreading biosolids is better than putting chemicals on our land," said Jeff Powers, chairman of the county's Agricultural Economic Development Advisory Board.

He went on to say biosolids are "critical" for the county's farmers because the cost of chemical fertilizer has skyrocketed. What used to cost a couple of hundred dollars now exceeds $1,000, Powers said.

According to the county's Web site, municipal wastewater treatment plants pay companies to dispose of biosolids. Those companies in turn give the product to farmers for free.

Officials in Bedford County began to examine the issue last year after it gained the attention of the General Assembly in 2007.

A Texas-based company that recycles organic waste made an agreement with state Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, to close a sludge storage facility on Otterville Road in March 2007. The company, Synagro, also reportedly agreed not open a second storage facility on Laughon Road between Bedford and Moneta.

Permits to spread sludge are issued by the state's Department of Environmental Quality, and localities have no power to regulate the spreading but can monitor storage.

On the Net:www.co.bedford.va.us/biosolids