Sludge Watch ==> Baltimore: Spread of sludge to stop at state park

[Maureen Reilly]

Spread of sludge to stop at state park



Aug 27, 2007 3:00 AM
by Mike Silvestri, The Examiner

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Residents have succeeded in their drive to stop the 
spread of sewage sludge at Susquehanna State Park.

The man farming the land sent a letter Friday to the Maryland Department of 
the Environment, which regulates sewage sludge, to pull permits allowing 
sludging on parcels near Quaker Bottom Road because of residents’ continued 
opposition.

Residents have been hammering state agencies since June, when Texas-based 
Synagro Technologies Inc. began spreading sludge on the state land, forcing 
people, under state law, to stay off the land for a year.

Jason Krankowski, a Synagro employee, had been using the sludge as 
fertilizer to grow hay.

People who read this also read:
Dickey: Kwame needs to be sacked
Garcia: Cabbie case highlights S.F.’s taxi scene
Story of the little train that can’t
George W. Liebmann: Deep flaws in proposed hate crimes bill
Obama Focuses on Rural Policy
He wants to stop because residents were “harassing” him, often calling him 
at his home and making “phony complaints,” he wrote in a letter to the 
Environment Department.

“These last two months have been very frustrating for me personally,” 
Krankowski wrote. “I tried to make people happy by cutting the number of 
trucks in half. I stopped work for two weeks for a wedding one of them was 
having at their house. I changed the schedule of the trucks so they didn’t 
start early. But nothing has made them stop, and I am just tired of it. I 
just want to finish cutting hay and not be constantly hassled.”

Recently, state and county lawmakers began writing letters to state agencies 
asking that the spreading stop, and the attorney general had been asked to 
investigate the contracts, in which Synagro leased the land from the 
Department of Natural Resources.

The residents, however, are not finished.

Although state lawmakers have refused to float legislation banning sludge 
from state parks, residents say they still want a law restricting DNR from 
issuing permits to corporations.

http://www.examiner.com/a-901317~Spread_of_sludge_to_stop_at_state_park.html