Carbon County has taken a stand in the fight against using sewage sludge as a fertilizer.

Earlier this month, the board of commissioners sent a letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro, stating that the county is joining with other concerned organizations in asking that the state “take immediate steps to protect the people of Pennsylvania from being exposed to the harmful chemicals contained in sewage sludge.”

The letter references a United States Environmental Protection Agency draft risk assessment, which was released in January, that evaluates the use of this sludge as a fertilizer on agricultural lands.

“The assessment represents a scientific evaluation of the potential human health risks associated with the presence of toxic forever chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sewage sludge. PFAS exposure has been linked in a number of prior, peer reviewed studies to troubling health effects including increases in cholesterol levels, lower antibody response to some vaccines, changes in liver enzymes, pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia, decreases in birth weight and kidney and testicular cancer.”

The commissioners said they do not expect the EPA to move quickly on their final risk assessment.

In the meantime they ask the state Department of Environmental Protection begin its own sludge land application risk assessment, allow local municipalities to decide if this sludge could be used on lands within a municipality and routine testing of the sewage sludge be expanded to include PFAS “because farmers and the public have a right to know what chemicals are included in sludge before it is applied to farmland.”

Last week, Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, thanked the commissioners for leading the way and taking a stand to protect the residents of the county.

“We want to thank you for your leadership on this issue,” Christman said, noting that Carbon was the first county that she was aware of to intervene in this matter in this way. “This is not just a county-wide issue. It’s become a statewide issue. There are other counties that are impacted by this and we believe they’ll follow your lead.”

Christman pointed out that in Texas, the state is suing Synagro, the company that provides the sludge for farmlands, for ruining ranch lands and water sources in the state.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner, who has voiced his concerns in the past, said that this is something that seriously needs to be looked into, especially since Carbon County is taking a step to preserve property through the Open Space and Farmland Preservation programs.

“My concern is are we preserving a property that might have this (sludge) on it and are we going to run into trouble that we’re going to be preserving property that we can’t use for open space in the future?” Ahner said. “Right now, the law is with them, but I’m hoping that the governor and states look into this. I mean, this is going to be a problem because there are some things that are in cancer causing over the years and they find out 20 years afterwards. That’s a problem.”

Carbon County has been discussing the use of sewage sludge as a fertilizer for several years after the idea of using biosolids on farms was proposed in East Penn Township.