Residents oppose sludge project
One of 100 signs opposing the use of sewage sludge in East Penn Township is placed directly across the street from the farm where a company has proposed using it. CHRIS REBER/TIMES NEWS
East Penn residents opposed to the use of treated sewage sludge as fertilizer are taking their movement to the streets.
Dozens of yard signs popped up along Lizard Creek Road (Route 895) and Smithlane Road this week, displaying a skull and crossbones and an anti-sludge message.
“No human sewage, toxic waste, biosolids in our township,” the signs read.
The signs popped up as the township plans to hold its third town hall regarding a plan to use treated sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, on a farm in the township. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the East Penn Social Hall.
The township supervisors voted last month to appeal a decision by the Department of Environmental Protection to allow a sludge company to use biosolids on the farm.
Synagro Inc. applied to use the material on 156 acres owned by Dennis Cunfer and Wanda Crostley.
DEP approved most of the proposed area for use of biosolids.
Ruth Kocher is one of a group of residents opposed to the project.
She said the first run of 100 signs has been distributed to residents who wanted to display them. They expect to produce more — more than 300 people have already signed a petition opposing the plan to use biosolids on the Cunfer farm.
“There are a lot of people interested who weren’t even at the meeting. There are a lot of people who don’t know what biosolids are,” she said.
In addition to appealing DEP’s approval, the township is also fighting to defend its ordinance regulating the use of biosolids, which has been on the books for more than 20 years. The Attorney General’s office is currently reviewing the ordinance, No. 77, to see if it conflicts with a state law that was passed in the years between. The AG’s office began its investigation after receiving a letter from Dennis Cunfer’s daughter-in-law, Katherine Hetherington Cunfer, which alleged that the township’s ordinance violates the state’s Agriculture, Communities, and Rural Environment law. Cunfer serves as DEP’s director of external affairs; however, she said in her letter to the AG that she was writing as a private citizen.
The township’s appeal to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board is pending. The board hadn't received an appeal from the township as of Tuesday.
