DER Holds Hearing
(Continued from Peg* Al)
but the problem is, how do you
implement the book? They admit
tedly docn’t have the manpower to
go out and monitor the spread of
sewage sludge or anything else.”
The repermitting is being sought
by Richard Lend, owner of Ridge
crest Farm, whose mailing address
is Womelsdorf. He currently has
permits to apply human sewage
sludge on 40 acres of his Cum and
356 acres on a nearby farm owned
by Melvin Gelsinger.
Neither Gelsinger, nor Lend
have telephone numbers listed,
and could not be reached for
comment
The audience sat in rows of fold
ing chairs, while four representa
tives of DER sat behind a long
table. OCT to the side, a stenogra
pher recorded the meeting.
The sewage sludge operation on
the two farms has been cited sever
al times during the past four years,
mainly related to odor problems,
but also to inappropriate applica
tion procedures, according to Mike
Maioli, waste operations supervi
sor out of the DER Reading Dis
trict Office.
Along with Maoili at the table,
representing DER were Don Kor
zeniewild, a facility specialist, Joe
Subzda, DER waste cningccr, and
Alica Harris, a DER community
and environmental relations
employee.
According to Subzda, as part of
a regular repcrmitting process,
DER sends notices of the teappli
cation to the local municipal offi
cials and to county officials. As
part of the notice, those local gov
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POURED WALLS
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• House Basements
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eminent officials may request
meetings of hearings.
Robert Manbeck, township
administrator, made that request
and set up the meeting.
Manbeck, a farmer also, started
off the meeting addressing DER
and the crowd about his concerns
with the current operation.
He said he is concerned that the
Gelsinger Farm does not have a
conservation plan filed with the
local USDA Agricultural Stabili
zation and Conservation Service
(ASCS), a requirement by DER for
a sewage sludge permit
Also Manbeck said several peo
ple have called him and reported
having bad wells which he said the
community suspects may be
caused by the sludge spreading.
Other concerns included the
lack of direct and regular inspec
tions by DER.
And the odor.
According to neighbor reports,
the sludge hauling has been occur
ing daily, and at night without a
24-hour break between loads in
many cases.
The husband of one family said
he lives downwind and in a valley
where air movement frequently
stagnates. He said his family is
regularly assaulted by the smell
and can’t-escape, except to leave
their home.
The sludge comes from the Phi
ladelphia area and is hauled to
Berks County for application.
The choices for most sewage
treatment plant operators is to
incinerate the sludge or find a farm
where it can be spread. Spreading
it on a farm is much cheaper than
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buming it
In the Philadelphia region,
farmland it at a premium, if avail
able at all
The type of waste dumping at
die two fiurms is classified by DER
as Agricultural Utilization.
According to Subzda, the agricul
tural utilization is the most restric
tive for heavy metals and other
contaminates. It also generally
receives the least amount of
sludge.
By regulation, the amount of
sludge put on the land is not to
exceed the amount that crops are
able to use. The crops are then to be
removed from the site.
As an example, Subzda said it
wouldn’t be unusual for three tons
of sludge, on a dry-weight basis, to
be dumped on an acre of suitable
farmland per year, under the ag
utilization perniit
He said that the weight of the
soil on an acre of land, down to a
depth of 6 to 7 inches, is about 2
million tons. Compared to that,
three tons of sludge per year is a
light load, he said.
However, during a telephone
conversation on Thursday, Subzda
said his use of three tons per acre
should not be taken to mean that
this is the rate of application at the
two farms.
Subzda said that while he con
sidered three tons per acre to be
light load, other factors and limits
are taken into account, not just the
bulk.
However, under the DER per
mitting system, those being moni
tored submit their own test results,
soil samples and yearly dumping
records.
Maioli said that approximately
JJnIS6B
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power pio equipment
IS inspectors (he wasn'tsure about
die specific number of inspectors)
cover the 15-county Central Reg
ion area. Those inspectors are to
monitor all the sludge waste
spreading currently permitted.
There are mote than 400 sites for
agricultural utilization alone.
It would be difficult for a site to
be inspected more than once a
year, Maioli said.
In effect, DER depends on the
sludge spreading, operations to
inform on themselves. There is no
independent or unbiased testing
performed on the sludge or the
soils, or keeping track of how
much is being dumped.
On Thursday Subzda said he
could understand the complaints
about the inspection systems.
The history of the two farms
were initially permitted for the
sludge dumping activity in 1987;
the Ridgecrest Farm in March,
Gelsinger farm in September,
The permitting was done by
DER's Southeast Regional office,
which covers the Philadelphia/
Norristown area which generates
the sludge. The person who over
saw the permitting no longer
works for DER.
Because of some later legisla
tion, those permits are only good
for five years. Those areas must
apply for repermitting. The two
farms current permits expire in
April 1993. If they are repermitted.
(Continued from Pago A 26)
from erosion, and helps carve
deeper channels for trout by keep
ing the flow confined within the
narrow streambed. A special
crossing installed in the stream
allows the cattle to pasture on the
creek’s far side without disturbing
the banks.
Local Boy Scouts helped place
some of the barrier rocks, donated
by the County Line Quarry. Bob
Kinsley Construction donated
equipment use, and various agen
cies helped design and implement
the stream erosion control
measures.
“We’ll probably add another
nawhoUand, pa 17557• 750«ai*mainstrMt (717)354-4241 Fax* (717) 355-2446
pa oil, pa 19301.37 InduiMal Wvd. (215) 440-9222 Fax # (215) 933-9115
intent* Finning, Sammy, June 20,1N2-A27
Innerst Farm
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subject to availability.
Other equipment also available.
the new permit! would be valid for
10 yean, or until the ground levels
of heavy metals reached maximum
allowable levels.
Subzda said, for example, 75
pounds of copper per acre is one
such limit
Maioli worked for the Southeast
Region when the permits were
originally granted, but was not
involved with those farms.
Susbequent promotion to super
visor in the Central Region and the
restructuring of districts, left
Maioli in charge of Berks County
and the two hums.
According to Maioli, “I got
some calls in 1988 and investi
gated them.”
By telephone Thursday, Maioli
first said he couldn’t answer spe
cific questions because he didn’t
have the information in front of
him.
After requests for more specif
ics, he eventually pulled the files
and reviewed the violations, they
included: March 1988
spreading on fields frozen or dur
ing periods of rain; April 1988
storing sludge onsite without
prior approval and sewage on site
was not properly stabilized
(treated to a pH of 12 with lime);
March 1990 failure to incorpo
rate sludge within 24 hours.
“We had meetings and corres
pondence with them. We had come
(Turn to Pago A 29)
couple hundred yards to it this
year,” George said of the joint
efforts toward the stream’s preser
vation and improvement.
Another addition planned is the
construction of another housing
facility incorporating additional
freestalls and updated feeding sys
tems for total mixed rations.
It’s just another of the many
steps of progress that have kept
Dun-Val successful through a
third generation of father-son
dairy farmers and to prepare and
preserve for a possible fourth gen
eration of Innerst children who
might want to someday farm the
Dun-Val slopes.
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54.500
27,50g__
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