At the most recent meeting of NorCo's Energy and Environment Committee, Executive Lamont McClure announced that biosolids, often called sludge, is being banned on all county-owned farms. NorCo currently owns six farms totaling about 500 aces, which are leased to local farmers. McClure stated he wants these farms to be "models for best practices in conservation and sustainable agriculture."
This ban is inapplicable to farms preserved with agricultural conservation easements.
16 comments:
“Executive Lamont McClure announced that biosolids, often called sludge, is being banned on all county-owned farms.”
Wouldn’t that mean that McClure has now banned himself from speaking at any county-owned farm?
McClure/biosolids fits well when mentioned together
Maybe a dumb question, but I live near a farm that accepts sludge. Where do I look to find a list of county owned farms to make sure they are in compliance?
There have been instances of farmland being contaminated with forever chemicals as a result of sludge spreading, so this is very good.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/climate/pfas-fertilizer-sludge-farm.html
Yet Nazareth's own Municipal Authority still considers this a "Best Practice". They are so mis-informed, even when their own sewage sludge samples are part of an Arizona PFAS study that show the average concentration of PFAS are in the ppb, when other studies show there are NO SAFE LEVELS of PFAS for humans. EPA released drinking water standards in April 2024 with levels less than 4-10 ppt. NBMA has been sold a line of sh!t from their 'experts' who make money by spreading this crap. Well done McClure. Stop the pollution of our farms, our land and our environment.
Do better Nazareth "leaders".
So how do these compounds end up in the waste stream? Let me count the ways. food packaging, cosmetics, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, water resistant clothing, stain resistant carpet/furniture, paint, dental floss, shampoo, and the list goes on.
Why focus on the end of the pipe solution that will force this material into landfills? Don't we like to protest landfill expansion too?
Maybe the county should be supporting a ban on these compounds in packaging and personal care products like Maryland has. If you're clutching you pearls about 4ppt as a drinking water standard, take a look at chocolate cake! FDA found PFAS in chocolate cake at 17,000 ppt. Sludge? hell, we should ban dessert! But hey, let's focus on what's important here.
Bigger picture: The county should sell the farms that it owns. It has no business to be in the farming business.
7:20, I'll disagree, First the county is not in the farming business. It leases to farmers. Second, the farms it owns abut county parks as well as Gracedale. That land can eventually be used for park expansion or to expand county buildings at the Gracedale campus.
C'mon Bernie, If the county leases to farmers and that money that exchanges hands goes into the county coffers then the county is in the farming business.
If you think the county should refrain from leasing unused land to farmers, then you should go to Thursday night's meeting to voice your displeasure. Good luck with that. Agricultural leases of public land is quite common.
If the County wants to lease the land, they should allow all "Normal Agricultural Operations" land application of biosolids is one of them.
Russel Redding recently stated that if you want clean water, farms need to be profitable. By limiting the tenant's acceptable agricultural practices, you are limiting their ability to turn a profit.
Organic matter is the keystone of soil health. Ask any agronomist or Certified Crop Advisor what a field will look like in 40 years when only chemical fertilizers are used.
If the county doesn't want their farms to stink, which odor is protected in the Right to Farm Act, they should either sell, pave them over or turn them into parks.
By owning these "farms" they are in the farming business. Either you support agriculture with its noise, odors and dust, or you support the loss of farmland. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
I believe our acquaintance, Ron Angle said it best, "Save the farms? we need to save the farmer first"
Lastly, I guess none of this was born out of McClures former life as an ambulance chaser for Peter Angelos. Biosolids was to be the new mesothelioma gravy train. Unfortunately, the PA supreme court determined land application of biosolids is part of a normal agricultural operations.
I wouldn’t be against the leasing of farmland by the county, except the county needs to be able to approve/disapprove what is spread on the county’s land. Looking at what occurred in Maine, Michigan, Georgia, Texas and other places, where farmland is deemed unusable due to “safe” biosolids being spread, what prevents that from happening to the counties land, or for any County preserved farm for that matter?
Biosolids only test for 8 or 9 chemicals/heavy metals. Those standards were from the 1980’s. Thousands of new chemicals, including PFAS/PFOS have been developed since then. Mix them into biosolids and you have pollution. And noone knows about it because it is not required to be tested before spreading. That’s wrong and a disgrace to the environment, the farmland and the farmers who are sold this garbage.
Only the farm in Maine was spread with paper pulp waste from a paper plate manufacturing plant. The paper plates were coated with PFAS so we wouldn't get grease on our pants at the family picnic.
Michigan was traced back to a boot manufacturer that spread their PFAS impregnated tannery waste on the farm in question.
Georgia was due to a chemical company that was in the business of manufacturing PFAS to be used in our paper plates, tampons, catheters, lipstick, microwave popcorn bags and water-resistant outerwear.
The greatest exposure pathway are from products we have used our entire lives that we willingly brough into our homes. PFAS have been widely produced and used since WWII. We have had an entire generation that was born, raised and bought the farm. All while ingesting/exposed to PFAS. Grandma lived to 97 and worked in the textile industry. PFAS were used extensively in clothing, by law as fire retardants. Grandma died of natural causes. . .
I was at a meeting with one of the Delaware River Keepers the other night and they kept bringing up PFAS. I informed her she should ditch the vintage Patagonia backpack that was soaked in PFAS. She replied, "Oh I know, but the stuff is everywhere"
Oh, and in Texas, the numbers don't add up. the group that brought the lawsuit already had to revise their numbers down once. The levels that they are claiming are coming from another source. Especially if you consider that the farm that is claiming harm was never applied. The farms in the area that were applied have not filed suit. Doesn't that make one wonder where the truth lies?
I believe in all cases, the farms spread what was sold as soil amendments/biosolids under the guise of improving soil quality. They were legally marketed that way. The farmer wasn't told of the catastrophic impact the decision would have, deeming their land unusable and in some cases forcing the euthanasia of their livestock due to sickness. It doesn't change the fact that the farms owned by the county need to be protected from such unsafe practices. Protect our county farmland and our food sources.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/climate/sludge-fertilizer-synagro-lobbying.html?smid=url-share
Nothing to see here. Just rich people getting richer at the public’s expense.
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