It's our Monday morning welcome to Save Carbon County! We originally organized to defeat the Penn East pipeline, which would have devastated parks, farmland, and homesteads while providing little benefit to the County. The pipeline was defeated, and Save Carbon County has been rededicated to protect the environment of Carbon County from threats such as over-development, the wrong type of development, and state laws and regulations which would harm our county's unique environment. We have now turned our attention to a new and growing threat to our environment --sewage sludge used as fertilizer for landscaping or agriculture. Sewage sludge is the solid waste that remains when waste treatment plants treat the liquid municipal waste and return the treated liquid to a river or the ocean. State Law allows local governments to implement some regulation of sewage sludge such as requiring signs on fields where the sludge is in use and notification of neighboring property owners. Still, State Law prevents local governments from prohibiting the application of sewage sludge and other agricultural operations like factory farms and stockyards. In years past, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) passed Resolutions asking for changes in State Law which were ignored. But now, the problem of sewage sludge is growing, and opposition to its use is also growing. The sewage sludge is treated to produce Class B sludge and treated further for Class A. The type distributed in Carbon County is "Class B," which is the lowest level of treatment. While Class A removes most pathogens, neither process removes the cancer-causing PFAS or PFOS, "forever chemicals." [WebMD-"Forever Chemicals Bigger Health Risk than First Thought: EPA" June 2022]. · Also remaining in the treated sludge are various chemicals and heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, selenium, zinc, PCBs (cancer-causing chemicals used in industry). Sewage sludge can also be affected by radon and medical isotopes and be radioactive. Because processing dries the sludge, it can become airborne and be carried to nearby properties. The Class B process dries the sludge but does not kill all pathogens. In addition to the chemicals and pathogens in the sludge, the sludge attracts vectors like flies and rodents and smells just as you would expect.
The sludge used in our area is produced by the Bethlehem Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Kline's Island treatment plant and distributed by Synagro. The treatment plants pay Synagro to remove the treated sludge because it is cheaper than putting it in the landfill. Synagro gives the sludge to users at no cost. We expect the use of sludge to increase in the upcoming 2025 planting season because of the current high price of conventional fertilizers. The impact on the residents that live near users of the sludge will also increase. No treatment plant in Carbon County produces or distributes this material. This is a problem allowed by wrong-headed State Laws and created in the urban areas of Bethlehem and
Allentown and shipped to Carbon County. It is time for rural and small communities to be heard and given the authority to protect their residents' health and water supply. If you can help in your local borough or township, please get in touch at 570-676-2644.
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