Franklin resident asks officials to address spreading of human sludge

A Franklin Township man has asked township officials to monitor the spreading of human sludge.

Resident Andrew Loudon questioned supervisors on Monday about the sludge that is being spread along Grange and Fairyland roads.

“I just want to know where this whole thing’s going,” Loudon said. “Who’s regulating this?”

The property owner of both parcels has been spreading the sludge since the fall.

Board Chairman Jason Frey told Loudon that the state Department of Environmental Protection regulates it.

Supervisor Robin Cressley said that while he wasn’t sure when the property owner is going to spread the sludge again, he’ll keep an eye out for it.

Frey assured Loudon that he also wasn’t pleased with the sludge being spread.

“When they first came in, I made a couple of calls because I wasn’t happy with it either,” Frey said.

Cressley stressed that the township essentially has no control over the situation.

“DEP’s a higher authority than we are,” Cressley said. “They’re basically making the rules.”

Loudon said he understood, but would like something to be done about driving on the township roads after leaving the fields.

“I’ll tell you what; the odor’s pretty bad,” he said. “I’d like to see maybe a Decon set up or maybe have someone from DEP there.”

Cressley noted they’ve been transporting the equipment from one field to another.

“There’s probably not a whole lot we can do, but (hopefully) we can keep it off our roads,” he said. “It (the odor) can really hang around for a few days.”

Supervisors said they plan to call DEP to express Loudon’s concerns concerning transporting from field to field and driving on township roadways.