Adams
BY J.B. ROTH
GETTYSBURG - If the Adams
County Conservation District, the
Soil Conservation Service, and the
Planning Commission have their
way, farmers using municipal
sludge will have to have a con
servation plan and have a waste
management plan prior to ap
plying sludge mi their fields.
Allis-Chalmerso
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seeks conservation, waste plans for sludge
The issue came to a head as a
result of four Gettysburg
Municipal Authority sludge
disposal permit applications for
Mt. Joy TVp. that were submitted
to the Planning Commission.
Planning Director John I.
Callenbach and the county com
missioners adopted a policy
allowing a 30-day waiting period
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GRUMELLI
FARM SERVICE
Quarryville, Pa.
717-786-7318
SHARTLESVIUE
FARMSERV.
Hamburg, Pa.
215-488-1025
for public comments on proposed
disposal sites. The policy prior to
August was to make a “no com
ment” to the Department of En
vironmental Resources.
The county was concerned that
the future may hold problems if the
commission did not take every
precaution to insure that it was
acting responsibly.
Sways.
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HUGHES BROS. INC.
Westminster, Md.
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LH. BRUBAKER, INC.
Lancaster, Pa.
717-397-5179
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 26,1983—A19
The four authority applications
were reviewed by the commission
in September. Callenbach com
mented that all of the areas in
tended for disposal were adjacent
to a body of water, three were in
the Lake Heritage subdivision, a
private community near Get
tysburg. Callenbach said the sites
drained directly into the lake.
VERNON E. STOP CO.
Frederick, Md.
301-663-3185
Callenbach noted that sludge
disposal was a sensible and
beneficial agricultural technique if
handled correctly, but could cause
problems if handled incorrectly.
The Lake Heritage Property
Owners’ Association and their
attorney contacted Callenbach and
raised concerns. They also sent a
letter to DER asking that the
permits be denied.
As a result of the comments
Callenbach consulted with the SCS
and the Conservation District for
advice. Die result was a letter
drafted to Robert G. Benvin
facilities supervisor of the Bureau
of Solid Waste Management.
The letter requested the DER
deny the permits unless a con
servation farm plan is in force at
the site. The plan would require a
waste management element and
monitoring procedure.
“There is no requirement in the
DER sludge permitting system
pertaining to agricultural sludge
disposal. There are not
requirements for conservation
plans. We just feel that it should go
farther than that. There should be
a specific document or plan put
together by somebody that knows
what they are doing. There really
is no reason why sludge shouldn’t
be applied to agricultural and is
basically a management and
operations problem,” Callenbach
said.
In essence, what this might
mean, not only for farmers in
Adams County, but possibly state
wide, is that if DER goes along
with Adams County’s request, a
precedent could be set for similar
requirements throughout the state.
The ultimate decision would still
lie with the township authority, but
many local townships are
disturbed by their inability to
control sludge disposal. The
alternative could be that a town
ship might try to prohibit or
possibly establish there own
permitting procedures.
Callenbach said that the in
creasing demand for sludge and
the contruction of new municipal
sewers will increase the number of
farming operations utilizing
sludge. It is the contention of the
commission that the disposal be a
well-planned and operated
program.
Callenbach said he did not know
how DER would react considering
that they are in the process of
reviewing regulations and plus the
conservation District’s stance that
disposal should be regulated. DER
may be favorable to the plan, he
said.
Soil Conservation Director Ray
Voyer said there were two possible
ways the system could work. One
way would be to complete a con
servation plan for the soil, water
conservation, and waste
management. The alternative
would be to require only the waste
management plan. He said that he
favored a total plan because of the
severe soil erosion problems in
South Central Pennsylvania.
Voyer said the Planning Com
mission was requesting the change
in its memorandum of un
derstanding to include this new
stance. As a gentlemen’s
agreement, the actual technical
assistance will be requested by the
conservation district on behalf of a
local farmer. The conservation
plan will then be developed by SCS.
The resource management
system would allow the farmer and
local authorities to be assured that
the proposed application of sludge
appropriate. The service would be
free.
The system would allow a
township, to forward the ap
plication to the Conservation
District for review. Then the
Districts recommendation could
be accepted or ignored by the
township.
“The reason we should be in
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