Sludge on farmland doesn’t pass smell test for Northampton County township residents
The chairperson of the Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority sought to allay worries by Plainfield Township residents that applying biosolids on most of an 82-acre farm off Bangor Road will be done following state and federal regulations.
“We understand the public’s concerns about biosolids,” Werner Fornos Jr. said during Thursday night’s authority meeting in Nazareth. He said the authority, which on Nov. 1 purchased the Hower Road farm for $850,000, will meet with township residents and officials to provide information, and offer a tour of its Palmer Township facility.
Fornos’ words did not satisfy the audience, with several among the two dozen people voicing displeasure at the prospect of waste being applied near their homes.
“You’re going to destroy my house,” said Plainfield homeowner Dorothy Williams, one of several people who spoke. “If I get your water in my basement, my home will be unlivable, because the smell will destroy my home.”
Williams worries runoff from the sludge will enter her home, which she said gets flooded because the area is wetlands.
Fornos said with setbacks and slopes, the authority plans to spread the waste on 50 of the 82 acres, and that it could take one year before the process is ready for application.
Biosolids are treated and processed sewage sludge, the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of domestic sewage in a wastewater treatment facility, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Fornos also said the authority has recycled biosolids on farmland it either owns or rents for 30 years without public complaints and that its waste is classified as Class B. Biosolids are classified as Class A or Class B, with Class A biosolids heated to high temperatures to remove pathogens, or microorganisms that can cause disease, while Class B biosolids are not, according to the Penn State Extension Service.
The authority sold land it had been using near its Palmer Township facility, necessitating the acquisition in Plainfield, according to Fornos.
Disposing biosolids is permitted on preserved farmland under several laws or regulations, including the Pennsylvania Right to Farm Act.
But the Plainfield residents, many who live along Hower and Bangor roads, spoke against the plan, noting the spreading of sludge would devalue their homes and property and lead to polluted runoff into nearby streams, among other concerns.
Millie Beahn, who brought a poster with photos of the properties and farms in the neighborhood, said no one advised residents or the township about the authority’s plans.
“Because of nondisclosure [of biosolids being spread] this sale should be voided,” Beahn said, presenting signatures from others she said oppose the plan. “There are a lot of people who are concerned.”
Plainfield Township has fought plans by others to bring sludge into the township. Five years ago, officials proposed building a $26 million sludge treatment plant on Grand Central Landfill property off Route 512. The plans were halted in February 2020 by the company behind the plant, Synagro Technologies.
Don Moore said residents fought the Synagro plant in part over concerns about questionable materials contained in the sludge and that it would have been trucked in from other states.
Fornos said, “We know what’s coming out of our plant.” He said there are no plans to bring in out-of-area waste or expand its plant. The Nazareth authority has about 5,500 customers in Nazareth, and parts of Bushkill, Lower Nazareth, Palmer and Upper Nazareth townships.
Moore, who was elected Plainfield supervisor earlier this month, said residents told him they felt the sale was “underhanded” and that there was no communication with the township about the authority’s plans for its use before the purchase.
“We have people who are looking at it very carefully to see if there is anything we can do to defend ourselves about what might be coming,” Moore said. “It would have been nice to have a discussion.”
Fornos said after the meeting the authority did not notify the township because it was in the process of vetting the land.
“It’s a business deal, plain and simple,” he said.