A group aimed at helping Carbon County’s residents and the environment thanked the county commissioners for taking a stand against sewage sludge being used on farmlands.

On Thursday, members of Save Carbon County addressed the board, thanking them for last month’s action in adopting a resolution calling for further state and federal officials and agencies to investigate the potential effects of land application of sewage sludge within Carbon County.

Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, said it was good to see further action on the matter.

“In the two years since you adopted your 2023 resolution, the issue of sewage sludge as fertilizer has become a statewide and national issue,” Christman said, noting that the Environmental Protection Agency, which had promoted such usage, is rethinking its policy.

She provided the county with the draft risk assessment from the EPA, which she said states that the products grown on farms using sewage sludge can have high levels of PFAs or forever chemicals, which can be carcinogenic.

Christman added that several environmental groups have now sent letters to Gov. Josh Shapiro asking that the state “conduct a state level risk assessment of sewage sludge as fertilizer, ... enact a moratorium on the practice until the risk assessment is complete and in the event a moratorium count not be implemented, allow local municipalities to regulate the use of sewage sludge within their boundaries.”

Save Carbon County also wants to ask the state to complete annual and semiannual testing of the sludge for forever chemicals.

“I’m asking Carbon County lead on this issue by sending your own letter to the governor asking for state level action to protect the public,” Christman said to the commissioners. “Your letter could simply endorse more study and better regulation. The moment is right to urge action on this issue. You would be the first county to take action and your letter would be very impactful as the only county that has 21 (out of 23) municipalities that passed resolutions asking for better regulation of sewage sludge and local control of the application. You are in a unique position to lead on this issue.”

Christman said the two municipalities that have not signed resolutions are Palmerton because it doesn’t have zoning for it, as well as Towamensing Township.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said they will take a look at the material Christman presented, but he doesn’t see why the county wouldn’t send a letter to the governor on the matter.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that now that the states are learning more about what is happening with this matter, there are some concerns.

The county recently entered into a program to preserve farmland and open space. However, if farmers are using this on that land, and years down the road, it comes back contaminated, that could create a problem with the preservation.

“I think the more we learn about it, maybe this isn’t such a great idea to put on our farmlands,” he said. “... We have farms here that are quite big farms and what happens if its being using on that? We could be preserving a farm that has 1,000 acres and in five years from now it shows its contaminated.”

When asked how the county feels about the regulations, Ahner said that he feels that it should start at the top and this risk assessment the EPA drafted isn’t a rosy picture.

“If the report comes out that it is not good, then say it is not suitable for putting on farms ... I think they have to get on it and I think every county within the state has to sign on to this.”

He pointed out that other county officials were asking about this issue at a County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania conference.

“It’s happening across the whole state, not just here,” Ahner said, pointing out that in another state, a farm was deemed contaminated and the milk produced by the cows on that farm could not be used for human consumption. “When you can’t use the milk off a farm, now’s the time to wake up.”

Sewage sludge as a fertilizer is being used by a very small percentage of farms within Carbon County, however, the commissioners are starting to see that as a concern because most of the farms are near a waterway of some type.

“I think it all starts at the top,” commissioners Chairman Mike Sofranko said, noting that in government there is the trickle down effect with federal passing the problem to state and state passing it to county, however, “the reality of the situation is the food, and some of what we’re eating is grown here in Carbon County ... but what we don’t know is what’s happening where they’re getting that from. It’s something that’s got to be regulated at a much higher level.”