A2B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 12,1984
Jesse Wood displays a detailed map of his father’s farm
showing areas approved for sewage sludge application.
CONSTRUCTION
SPECIALISTS IN:
FARM BUILDINGS - EXCAVATING
MANURE PITS - SEPTIC TANKS
THE "OPEN END” IVANY BLOCKS
Manure Pits with: f| <
• POURED WALLS f^JK r V
• BLOCK WALLS /- I
.Sa 7 • lagoon systems 1 ;i
SJO. • ABOVE GROUND
GtSSIP systems j
SPECIAL FARM PRICES
DYNAMIC MASONRY
CONTRACTORS
Gordonville, PA
Mike Fisher Larry Herr
(717) 687-6801
After 6 PM, Call (717) *B7-7217
Phila. sludge
(Continued from Page Al)
procedure beginning with a
process called anaerobic digestion
and dewatering at the company’s
Southwest and Northeast
dewatering stations.
At 20 to 25 percent solids, the
dewatered product is then mixed
with woodchips and deposited in
piles 100 feet long, and 12 feet high
on a woodchip base at the South
west station’s compost pad.
Composting is accomplished by
using a fan to draw air through a
perforated pipe located in the
middle of each pile. This process
dries the compost and maintains
temperatures of 140° or greater
within the pile, sufficient to kill
disease-causing organisms.
After 21 days, the compost piles
are taken to a storage area for
curing. Here the compost is placed
in large piles for at least 30 days,
rendering a drier product capable
of being screened.
When curing is completed, the
woodchips are screened from the
finished compost and reused in the
production of more compost.
Strip mine reclamation
currently accounts for 60 percent
of the Southwest composting pad’s
product, with other outlets in
cluding ballfield renovation,
marketing, public giveaway and
agricultural use.
Under the marketing program,
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MEAT AND
DAIRY FAVORTHES*-^
WHY HAVE OVER 60 POULTRYMEN REPLACED
THEIR DROPPING BOARDS WITH CHEMGRO’S
HIGH DENSITY PLASTIC DROPPING BOARDS?
IT’S SIMPLE, OUR BOARD IS UNMATCHED
IN THE INDUSTRY!
• SUPERIOR STRENGTH AND DURABILITY
• THICKNESS. A FULL W THICK
• WILL NOT RUST OR CORRODE
• AVAILABLE IN 8’ AND 10’ SECTIONS
• FITS MOST MAJOR CAGE SYSTEMS
• ALL NECESSARY HARDWARE AVAILABLE
• PLASTIC SCRAPER BLADES ALSO AVAILABLE
• BOARDS FULLY GUARANTEED BY MANUFACTURER
CALL TODAY: AND SEE THE BOARD
the screened compost is sold to
commercial growers and retail
outlets under the trade name
Gardenlife. In the public giveaway
program, the unscreened product
is given to the public free of charge
at the Northeast and Southwest
plants.
But despite its wide use in mine
reclamation, sewage sludge has
not yet realized unanimous ac
ceptance in the agricultural sector.
Fears of unalterable industrial
toxins, and heavy metal deposits
have steered farmers away from
sewage sludge in favor of the
traditional livestock manures.
According to PWD project
engineer, Jerry Vetter, such fears
are unfounded
“We control the content of the
compost at the source. Only about
10 percent of municipal sewage
sludge is industrial in origin, and
all industrial waste must meet
certain pre-treatment limits.
“Our compost piles are carefully
monitored for heavy metals,
percentage of total solids,
nutrients and pH.”
After the composting process is
complete, the testing continues
with samples of each farm-bound
truckload being laboratory
analyzed.
At the end of the growing season,
Mobil Dredging and Pumping
Company, the firm responsible for
getting the product to the farmer,
tests previously treated fields and
calculates the following season’s
application rates.
“In most cases I’d say that
sewage sludge is as good a fer
tilizer as livestock manure,” says
Brian Steager, vice-president of
Ad-Soil. Ad-Soil personnel
are the first to visit the farmer
after he requests the sludge
treatment program. The com
pany’s agronomists outline a
program based on each farm’s
specific requirements, and submit
a permit application to the
Department of Environmental
Resources.
QUESTION?
ANSWERI
rsKSir:
The DER then makes an on-site
evaluation to confirm the data
submitted by Ad-Soil, and submits
the project to the county planning
commission and township per
sonnel for comment within 60 days.
The permit is then issued to
PWD, who employs contractors for
delivery and application, v
“At the moment, land ap
plication is the least expensive use
when compared to other options
such as incineration, ocean
disposal, landfill and strip
mining,” remarks Steager.
And from the farmer’s stand
point, the program is indeed
inexpensive. All phasbs of sludge
disposal, from composting to in
corporation into the soil, are
provided free of charge to the
farmer by PWD.
“Jesse Wood, son of James
Wood, is one farmer who is con
vinced of the program’s value.
“The cities are having a problem
getting rid of sludge, and if we
farmers can use it to our benefit,
why shouldn’t we? The only
problem I foresee is getting the
compost delivered and in
corporated in time for planting.
When it’s time to fertilize, they’ve
got to get it here.”
Wood has applied for sludge
permits for all three of the farms
owned by himself and his father.
But even though the three farms’
cropland area totals 500 acres,
Wood emphasizes that sludge
cannot be applied to all the ground.
Regulations prohibit its use on
certain soil types, and where the
land’s slope may create run-off
problems.
In addition, sewage sludge may
not be applied within 300 feet of an
occupied dwelling or water source,
within 100 feet of a stream or lake,
or closer than 50 feet from ad
jacent properties or roads. DER
regulations also state that sewage
sludge must be incorporated into
the soil with 24 hours after ap
plication.
BOX 218
EAST PETERSBURG,PA 1
Phone 717-569-3296