Sludge Watch ==> Pennsylvania - Banning 'beneficial use' radioactive, dredged, infectious wastes

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

"Beneficial Use" is the cover phrase for diverting industrial and municipal 
wastes to farmlands or mining sites.  This story, and this ordinance, draw 
back the curtain as this little town gets ready to pass an ordinance against 
the land application of :  construction and demolition, chemotherapeutic, 
infectious, hazardous, residual and radioactive waste.

Spiking agricultural lands with poisons an naming this practice 'beneficial' 
is a cynical deceit.

...............................

April 11, 2007
Tamaqua verges on total sludge ban
4 of 7 council members back extending the law to include corporations.
By Chris Parker Of The Morning Call

Confronted with a standing-room-only crowd, four of Tamaqua Borough 
Council's seven members on Tuesday said that they would vote in favor of an 
ordinance that would ban corporations from bringing coal ash, dredged 
material and radioactive matter into the borough.

The ordinance, proposed by Councilwoman Cathy Miorelli during the council's 
workshop meeting, would also stop corporations from applying construction 
and demolition, chemotherapeutic, infectious, hazardous, residual and 
radioactive waste to the ground under the guise of a beneficial use.




On Oct. 17, 2006, council voted to reject the ordinance, which has since 
been tweaked to include coal ash -- a derailed plan by a Pottsville company 
to use river dredge and coal ash to fill a massive nearby coal pit with the 
mixture enraged the community -- and to drop a section barring the hauling 
of the materials through town because enforcement would be impossible.

Also now included are provisions that would allow businesses to temporarily 
store some of the materials, such as medical waste at doctors' offices, and 
for residents to temporarily store home-generated coal ash.

After about 45 minutes of often contentious debate, Miorelli polled council 
members on how they would vote at the meeting on Tuesday.

Council members Ann Simard, Mahlon Kachelries and Steve Tertel said they 
would vote in favor of the ordinance. James Knowles said he didn't know how 
he would vote and council President John Trudich asked if other 
municipalities had adopted similar laws.

Councilman Micah Gursky said he would vote against the ordinance.

''I have no problem with using coal ash for [mine] reclamation,'' he said.

If adopted, the ordinance would beef up one adopted in September 2006 that 
bars corporations, but not people, from applying sewage sludge to the land.

Miorelli crafted the proposed ordinance, which is specific to Tamaqua, with 
Tom Linzey and Ben Price of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund 
of Chambersburg, Franklin County.

She first presented the ordinance at an April 3 workshop session, when 
Gursky questioned a provision that would grant civil rights to ecosystems.

Linzey on Tuesday explained that people could sue for the loss of value of 
an ecosystem -- a stream or forest, for example -- but that such suits could 
not be brought to restore them.

Among those who spoke was Mike Polyak, who blasted council for not 
supporting the ordinance on April 3.

''Some council members are under the impression that this is not what 
Tamaqua residents want,'' he said. ''I'm here tonight to tell you that you 
are very wrong.''

Linzey said his group would offer to defend the borough against lawsuits 
stemming from the ordinance, but that it would be up to council and its 
insurance carrier to decide who would do that.

He said lawsuits typically aim to overturn the ordinance and to punish the 
municipality.

In October 2006, Trudich, Gursky and Knowles voted against the original 
version of the ordinance. Miorelli and Tertel voted for it. Simard and 
Kachelries did not attend that meeting.

In other matters, the borough Water Authority is advising its customers who 
live east of Columbia Street in the east section of town to boil their water 
before using it for cooking or drinking.

The water should be brought to a rolling boil for two to three minutes.

The authority said a water main break Tuesday ''placed an extreme demand'' 
on the system, resulting in dirty water.

If customers have any questions, they should call 570-668-3444 or 
570-668-0300.

chris.parker at mcall.com