Sludge Watch ==> Pennsylvania - Residents advocate measure to govern sludge on land

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Morning Call
Allentown, Pennsylvania

August 16, 2006


Sludge proposal advances in Tamaqua;
Residents advocate measure to govern substance's use on land.

Sarah Fulton Special to The Morning Call - Freelance


Tamaqua Borough Council plans to advertise a proposed ordinance regulating 
land application of treated human sewage.

Council voted to advertise the measure for adoption to the pleasure of a 
large audience at Tuesday's regular meeting.

Sludge, also known as biosolids, is treated waste frequently used as a 
fertilizer on farmland.
Council is considering adopting an ordinance that would require companies 
and individuals who plan to use sludge to apply to the borough and meet 
state Department of Environmental Protection standards.

Sludge prepared for land use must be tested by a laboratory and proven to be 
free of pathogens and harmful pollutants, the ordinance states. The borough 
must be allowed to sample the sludge and test it at the expense of the 
applicant.

For months council has heard pleas from residents and local activists to 
adopt an ordinance governing the use of sewage sludge on land. Residents 
were spurred to action after plans to use the waste as fertilizer were 
announced in neighboring Schuylkill Township.

Thomas Linzey of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund of Chambersburg 
supplied the sludge-regulating proposed ordinance to council and attended 
Tuesday's session to answer questions from the public.

Linzey explained that since the ordinance's first public presentation, he 
deleted the section that regulated sludge hauling through the borough.

"The ordinance has been modified in response to comments from council," 
Linzey said. "There would be no enforcement provisions that would deal with 
hauling."

Resident Michael Vadjac asked if the ordinance could prohibit companies from 
hauling sewage sludge through the borough by rail on the way to other towns. 
Linzey said that would not be covered by the current proposed ordinance.

However, some cities, such as Washington, D.C., have prohibited the 
transport of hazardous waste materials through their boundaries, Linzey 
said.

If adopted, council is tasked with enforcing the ordinance. Residents may 
also file complaints in court to enforce the ordinance.

Any person found guilty of violating the proposed ordinance would be guilty 
of a summary offense and subject to a $750 fine. A second violation calls 
for a $1,000 fine, as well as every violation thereafter. Violators may also 
be impris-oned as the court sees fit.

Linzey said council should keep hope that someday it will be able to 
exercise further authority and ban the use of sludge outright.

He said there is language in the Clean Water Act indicating that 
municipalities have the right to regulate the dis-posal of sludge. 
Municipalities in New Hampshire and a county in California have successfully 
banned use of the materials and have been supported in court rulings, Linzey 
said. He said the language has not yet been tested in Pennsylvania 
courtrooms.

Council has not set a date for adoption of the ordinance.