Officials say sludge is no concern for drinking water

Jerry Pillus of the state Department of Environmental Protection has assured the public that the sewage sludge being dumped next to a feeder creek for Tamaqua's drinking-water reservoir is not a problem. Furthermore, he's tired of citizens raising concerns about the water. Read all about it in the April 17 post at DANTE7.com.

Sludge dumped near Hometown's drinking water reservoir

Tamaqua Borough Council member Cathy Miorelli has raised concerns about the dumping of sewage sludge on land drained by a stream that feeds the Still Creek Reservoir, the local drinking water supply, according to the Times News. The land in question is in Carbon County's Packer Township.

Miorelli's experience in trying to bring the problem to the attention of the proper authorities illustrates why many area citizens have little faith in government regulators.

After she learned about a "brown substance" piling up on the land in question, Miorelli called the state Department of Environmental Protection's complaint hotline and spoke with Tim Craven, according to the paper. Asked whether the dumping was permitted, Craven -- who is DEP's Northeast regional biosolids coordinator -- said he didn't know, and that "it would be difficult for him to find out," she said.

Craven eventually called the farmer, who reportedly said the material was lime. Craven then told Miorelli to call the farmer and verify that it was in fact lime. She told him she didn't think that was her job and requested an inspection. He said he would "really hate to do that," she told the paper.

Then on April 2, Miorelli got a phone call from Craven, who told her that it was in fact "biosolid material," and that it had come from Phillipsburg, N.J. On April 10, officials with the DEP and Tamaqua Borough and Water Authority met at the property in question but declined to check the feeder stream. The paper reports:

Mayor Christian Morrison took issue with the fact that the DEP officials apparently lied and did not perform the appropriate inspections.

"This community has lost faith in DEP and this just doesn't help,'' he said.

It would be interesting to know where specifically in Phillipsburg the material comes from. The town is home to Hydropress, a company that processes sewage sludge from New York City and elsewhere into materials spread on farmlands. In 2003, the company sued Pennsylvania's Upper Mount Bethel Township over an ordinance requiring sludge dumpers to pay a fee for road improvements and a substantial bond to ensure compliance with local regulations; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court eventually ruled that townships do not have the authority to impose such regulations.

Despite the high court's ruling, Tamaqua as well as neighboring Rush Township, where Hometown is located, have passed similar restrictions on dumping. So has nearby East Brunswick Township, which is now having its regulations challenged by State Attorney General Tom Corbett, who formerly served as an attorney for sludge hauler Waste Management Inc.

Teach-in targets depleted uranium weapons manufacturing in Scranton

On Tuesday, April 22, the same day as Pennsylvania's presidential primary, there will be a teach-in about the depleted uranium weapons and ammunitions produced by General Dynamics in Scranton, 50 miles northeast of Hometown. The event is organized by We the People, a New Hampshire-based organization that promotes campaign finance reform, and the New York-based No DU Coalition of the Hudson Valley. The event will take place at noon at General Dynamics' Scranton headquarters, located at 135 Cedar Ave.

Invitees include presidential candidates John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Gravel and Ralph Nader, along with senior executives from General Dynamics and the Pentagon. Confirmed speakers include Herbert Reed, an Iraq veteran contaminated by depleted uranium.

A byproduct of the uranium enrichment process, depleted uranium is a very high-density metal used to make anti-tank munitions and armor-plating for tanks. DU is chemically toxic as well as slightly radioactive, and its main exposure route is thought to be inhalation of dust formed when DU munitions hit targets. The British government has attributed health problems and birth defect claims from a 1991 Gulf War veteran to DU poisoning, and scientific studies have suggested a link between chronic DU exposure and leukemia as well as other genetic, reproductive and neurological problems.

To date, most of the opposition to DU weapons has focused on their impact on veterans and civilians in war zones. But what about DU's impact on the communities where the weapons are manufactured? Could the DU weapons facility in Scranton be a factor in the unusually high cancer rates in Northeastern Pennsylvania?

Listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory as the "U.S. Army Scranton Army Ammunition Plant," the facility in 2006 reported releasing to the environment 13 pounds of toxic chemicals -- the metals chromium, copper, manganese and nickel. However, uranium and depleted uranium are not included among the chemicals covered by the TRI.


(Photo of Iraqi baby believed to be have been deformed by depleted uranium contamination by Dr. Jenan Hassan courtesy of Mindfully.org. For more photos of babies believed to have been impacted by DU, click here -- but please be warned that these images are quite graphic and disturbing. For more about Dr. Hassan's work, click here.)