September 20, 2006
http://www.tnonline.com/node/68024
By unanimous vote, Tamaqua adopts sludge ordinance
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfasstnonline.com
Tamaqua may be positioning itself to challenge limits in protecting residents of the community.
Two months after being urged to "start a revolution," Tamaqua Borough Council has adopted a landmark sewage sludge ordinance geared toward protecting local residents from the waste product and its 600,000 known contaminants.
By unanimous vote, council members late last night adopted a version of a biosolids ordinance first proposed by Tom Linzey and Ben Price of the Environmental Legal Defense Fund.
The two met with council and over 120 local residents on July 26 when the borough sponsored a public forum to examine the issue. At that time, Linzey and Price suggested a six-pronged framework to ban or severely limit corporations and individuals from dumping sludge. The cutting-edge ordinance also recognizes the rights of residents to live in a healthy environment.
The ordinance had been the subject of additional discussion, debate and refinement over the past eight weeks, with input offered by council members as well as representatives of the Army for a Clean Environment (ACE).
The sludge dumping controversy has been a high profile issue.
On Aug. 28, environmental advocates further focused attention on the issue by staging a 16-mile, day-long walk from the Schuylkill County Courthouse, Pottsville, to Tamaqua's Depot Square Park.
By adopting the ordinance, Tamaqua is taking the lead in an issue confronting municipalities across the Commonwealth, including the City of Hazleton and East Brunswick Township. The latter community and others were awaiting Tamaqua's action before pursuing their own versions of the ordinance.
On another environmental topic, Dave Kupchinsky of Owl Creek questioned why his name appeared on a list of wells to be tested as part of a borough agreement with Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. Kupchinsky's home is located on the mountainside opposite Springdale Pit.
His question evoked considerable comment from the 40 in attendance.
Dr. Dante Picciano, founder of the 1,100-member ACE group, said two separate sets of tests had been discussed. One series of tests applied to a reclamation test site, or demonstration project, where 50,000 tons of dredge was dumped, said Picciano. The other proposed tests involved the monitoring of wells related to dumping at Springdale Pit.
Ricky Johnson, Rush Township, voiced concern over news relayed by a caller to an Air Your Opinion radio show on Saturday in which a Coaldale resident told talk show host Mark Marek that a "scrapple-like mixture" was being dumped into the unlined pit.
Councilman Mahlon Kachelries, Owl Creek, indicated that wind routinely carries the dust into Coaldale and other locations.
"When there's snow in the winter, we have black snow," Kachelries said.
Dr. Peter Baddick, West Penn Township, announced that Lora Siegmann Werner of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Philadelphia, has invited local physicians to a forum devoted to the unusually high number of local cases of polycythemia vera.
"It'll be a high level summit on cancer clusters, held on Sept. 29 at 9:30 at the Schuylkill County Ag Center," said Baddick.
The session will serve to further evaluate cases of the rare blood disorder in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties.
In other activity, Thomas Schiffer of Schuylkill Community Action told council that plans are moving forward for construction of a two-story Victorian cottage home on an empty lot at 336-338 Hazle St. Construction is expected to begin in October. When completed, the home will be offered for sale to a qualified purchaser meeting certain income guidelines. Preference will be given to a first-time home buyer. The site is located in the 55-block Tamaqua National Historic District.
A certificate of appropriateness for the project was issued by the borough based on recommendation from the Historical Architectural Review Commission. However, the project will still need zoning approval, it was noted.