Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
HEARING on A & M Composting Permit Renewal Application
July 18, 2001, Penn Township Bldg, Manheim, PA
Note: This is an unofficial, preliminary report only,
pending the arrival in 2-3 months of the
official PDEP document.
The meeting was opened at 19:00 by Sandra Roderick, PDEP Community Relations Coordinator. Approximately 30 persons attended and were told that 14 people were to give 10 minute statements. Because of lack of staff, no question and answer period was possible, but written comments could be addressed to her till August 3, 2001. She introduced Don ......... , who gave a brief outline concerning the application, which had been received on January 26, 2001. The present 10 year permit was issued in 1991 and expires on September 1, 2001. Copies of the application are available for viewing in two locations. A local involvement meeting is needed, and comments by PENNDOT are pending. The application does not ask for any increases or other new items, so it just concerns continuation of present procedures.
The first speaker was Sandy Smith, who gave a rapid fire 20 minute presentation in which she referred to a petition signed by more than 2000 people opposed to the renewal, announced that in West Virginia a judge had confirmed yesterday that Mascaro constituted a public nuisance, pointed out errors on the site map, gave details about the hectic traffic involved on Mountain Road and asked who was to pay for construction of a planned wider bridge. She pointed out the air pollution resulting from Chlorine used, that Pb contents of the sludge/chips was too high, that the pH of lime used was as high as 12, and that the unlabeled end product containing all kinds of toxics was sold as compost to the listed parties. She referred to her testimony and that of others at the NAS-NRC Meeting on Biosolids on March 14, 2001.
The next speaker was Ben Oostdam, whose statement appears here.
Other speakers included Daemon Quinn, a civil engineer/lawyer, who addressed concerns about the effect of sludge on springs,
Tina Daly, representing a PA sludge activist group, Diane Berlin, and several others with short statements opposing the permit renewal &/or pointing out errors or inconsistencies in the permit application.
There were no statements in favor of the permit renewal, and several listed speakers
did not attend, so the meeting was adjourned at 20:20 with the reminder that written statements or comments can be submitted to PDEP till August 3 and that all participants listed will receive a copy of the transcripts of the statements and the PDEP's responses.
NOTE: Several handouts were made available at the meeting, including a "Reading Times" copy of May 1, 2001 concerning the deaths of Anthony Behun, Shayne Conner and Daniel Pennock which may have been sludge-related.;
press here for the full reports