Linda Christman from the local group Save Carbon County addressed the Agricultural Land Preservation Board of Carbon County at its meeting Tuesday evening in Jim Thorpe.

The board purchases farms around Carbon County to preserve them.

Christman and other volunteers have been attending various meetings around the county, addressing the problem of farms using sewage sludge, also called biosolids, as well as medical and industrial waste products on their farmland.

According to the website of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s because of their useful properties.

One common characteristic of concern of PFAS is that many break down very slowly and can build up in people, animals, and the environment over time.

“Their half-life is about 50 years,” Christman explained. “PFAS and sewage sludge are taken up by plants and can result in farm products like eggs, milk, meat and animal feed having high levels of PFAS. That results in farms being taken out of agricultural production. In Maine and Washington state, many dairy farms are closed down as a result.”

According to the EPA, scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.

Christman explained why she, representing Save Carbon County, wanted to address the board.

“We know that you cannot put any kind of prohibition against the use of sewage sludge in the conservation contract as long as you’re using state funds,” Christman said. “But, we are asking that when you are using exclusively county funds, that you put a prohibition against the use of sewage sludge, and that you don’t preserve farms that use sewage sludge.”

Christman went on to say that the state does not preserve farms 35 acres or less, and there are a lot of farms 35 acres or less in Carbon County.

Those farms would use county funds exclusively.

“I don’t think the taxpayers are going to want to preserve farms that may become unsuitable for farm use.”

Board President Richard Fedor advised those present that the Carbon County Commissioners were asked to contact State Rep. Doyle Heffley and Sen. David Argall.

“As the president of the preservation board, I get so many irate calls about the biosolids, “Fedor said. “My hands are tied, because I have to go by what the state law is. The best thing people can do is contact their state representatives.”

Anna Shigo, Open Space coordinator for the county, agreed with Fedor that the commissioners were contacted.

“We did discuss this with the commissioners a couple weeks ago. They did put out a resolution that they contacted Doyle Heffley and Senator Argall about looking into this more, having the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Agency look into this a little more. The commissioners are aware of it.”

The contamination of groundwater is one of the concerns of the use of PFAS. It was suggested that contaminated farms could produce nonedible crops such as hemp or Christmas trees.

“But that raises the question: Are you contaminating the groundwater?” Christman said.

Fedor illustrated how contaminating groundwater can have far reaching effects.

“Around 40 years ago, they ran a study in the Nazareth/Bath area. They were having a lot of sink holes. They dumped dye in the water, and that dye surfaced way down in the western part of Lehigh County. That’s how far it traveled underground.”

Susan Frey of East Penn Township, who attended the meeting, lives next to a farm that uses biosolids.

“We’ve been fighting this in our township for a number of years. When we started fighting this maybe 10 years ago, we had never heard of PFAS. So now, this is coming to light, and I’m wondering what will come to light next.”

Lee Kunkle, also of East Penn Township, said, “About 3½ years ago, there was a referendum in this county to preserve the quality of our water on working farms.

“I was co-chair on that committee. I had the privilege of talking to a lot of people in Carbon County. Their main concerns were the quality of the water and the quality of the food they eat. They wanted farms that produced quality and safe food to eat.

“The DEP has recently tested some of the creeks in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Christman added. “One of the creeks where they found high levels of PFAS was the Aquashicola Creek in Palmerton. If you recall, when they were trying to clean up the area of the zinc company, on the mountain that had lost all its vegetation, they put fly ash and sewage sludge on that mountain. The Aquashicola Creek is right at the bottom of that mountain.”

“It’s a problem that has to be addressed,” Fedor stated.