Al2—Lancaster Farming, Friday, July 3, 1981
OUR READERS WRITE,
AND OTHER OPINIONS
iVJ. has dump problems too
I read the editorial “Off the
Sounding Board, Calling the
Question” with a great deal of
interest.
I am wondering if this I.U.
Conversion System, Inc. of Hor
sham, Pa. is another name for
Envirosafe Services, Inc. of
Horsham, Pa. Envirosafe is
presently being investigated here
in Salem County, N.J. because
they bought up land under false
pretenses. Salem County’s Con
cerned Citizens have fought hard
against this hazardous waste
dump.
D.E.R. and D.E.P. (Dept, of
Environmental Resources,
Protection) in New Jersey have
done a number of interesting
things. On March 15, 1981, it was
illegal to spread raw sewage in
Salem County. On March 16, it was
made legal again. The D.E.P.
issued eight emergency permits
for raw sewage farming.
Gloucester County got five such
permits, Salem one, and Cap
May two.
No public hearing was or is
scheduled on these ordinances.
Our Township officials knew
nothing about them until the
mayor received a copy of the
permit. Our freeholders knew
nothing about the changes until a
citizens group attended their
meetings.
The ground that is scheduled to
have the sewage placed on it will
not be suitable for farming for
three years. If it is to be used for
pasture, the animals must be
removed six weeks before sale or
slaughter. This does not take into
consideration the deer or the birds
that will surely eat plants from
that land.
The state can not guarantee the
people around the dump will not
get sick from it. The sea gulls that
flew over the ground carried toilet
tissue from the dump over onto
plowed fields. The tissue laid on
the ground for better than three
weeks until it could be plowed
under for com. In the meantime,
the temperature rose to 80 degrees
and became very humid, causing
the blowflies to hatch.
Salem County has no sewage
plant and the D.E.P. is forcing
them to do something about the
sewage problem. At the township
meeting on April 9, a man from
D.E.P. told us that it was an
emergency situation. Our township
officials and solicitor asked the
representative who declared the
emergency and why they were
never notified of the situation. The
state said our sewage must be
trucked to Middlesex County in
northern New Jersey, or use the
seepage farming method.
The state D.E.P. is giving us the
run around. They will not UR any of
the emergency permits, which
expire September 1, even though
we have been writing letters,
making phone calls, and signing
petitions. Our community is sick of
the whole matter, especially the
oder, and blowflies.
Sometime in 1982 the D.E.P.
says it is going to close down all
landfills in Salem Countv Jtie
D.E.P. wants one giant landfill
with plastic liners at $5-$8 a foot in
it. We would like to recycle, in
cinerate and/or develop one small
landfill for the county.
This ,will be another big fight
Jean B. Massey L.P.N.
Elmer, N. J.
Farm Calendar
(Continued rrom Page A 10)
Farm, Ephrata, concludes
tomorrow.
Friday, July 10
Pa. Rabbit Conference, Penn State
University, 9 a.m., concludes
tomorrow.
Franklin County Solar Workshop,
Chambersburg, continues
tomorrow.
Keystone Stud ram and ewe sale,
Farm Show Building,
Harrisburg, concludes
tomorrow.
Grand Opening of new Production
Credit Office, 119 S. Custer
Ave., New Holland, 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 11
Sperry New Holland 41st Annual
Family Picnic, New Holland
Memorial Park, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Georgetown Field Day
set for August 12
NEWARK, Del. Plans are well
under way for the University of
Delaware’s 37th Annual Farm and
Home Field Day at the
Georgetown Agricultural Sub
station.
This event, set for August 12,
1981, gives farmers and non
farmers alike a chance to see what
the University’s Agricultural
Experiment Station and
Cooperative Extension Service are
doing for the people of Delaware.
Questioning the question
In the editorial, “Off the Soun- Upper Leacock Township to handle
ding Board-Calling the Question,” their proposed future sewage? And
the question (or at least the first then why should the taxpayers be
part of it) was a good one. It does ‘‘forced to spend another
seem however that you should $36,000,000 to upgrade the Lan
have continued a hit further, i.e.: caster plant to handle this sewage?
- Why should taxpayers be -Or how about Ephrata? The
“forced” to spend any money to engineers want to tie in some
take on the responsibility of outlying areas to the municipal
property owners - whether they treatment plant. And again the
be farmers, suburban or urban _ taxpayers will be forced to foot
dwellers 9 the bill - some of 4,1086 tax
pavers are farmers.
Why should the taxpayers be
“forced” to spend $20,000,000 to
build collectors and intercepted in
Now Is The Time
(Continued from Page AlO)
For the protection of valuable
livestock, we suggest that some of
these individual trees be fitted with
a lightning rod system. If there is a
woodlot in the pasture, or a
number of trees, it may not be
practical.
TO PREPARE FOR
FIRE PROTECTION
Our bams are filling up with new
crops of hay, straw and grain, so
we need to be concerned with fire
protection. We urge farmers to
Activities will begin at 9:30 a.m.
During the morning, there will be
special wagon and bus tours of
corn, soybean, vegetable, and
poultry projects around the Sub
station, as well as tours of the
University swine facilities. Some
of the tours are designed to present
an intensive look at the Univer
sity’s research plots for farmers
and others with specialized in
terests, while other tours are
designed to provide a general
Green Tree Assoc.
Box 6, Exton, Pa. 19341
give some thought to water sup
plies for fighting fires.
Many farmers indicate their fire
company would be unable to
supply adequate water. This in
creases the risk of serious fire
losses. Farms with streams
nearby should have plans
developed to get the fire engine
within 25 feet of the water.
Owners of farm ponds should
have all-weather driveways to the
pond. There have been cases
where buildings burned while the
fire truck was mired down in the
mud trying to get to the pond.
It is a good idea to inform your
local fire company of the sources
of water supplies for fighting fires.
An adequate water supply for
fighting fires is good insurance
against severe losses.
overview for the curious non
farmer.
Tickets will be available at the
door for a fried chicken luncheon to
be held in the grove at noon.
The afternoon activities will
feature remarks by visiting
dignitaries and a continuation of
the tours, programs, and exhibits.