Governor Schweiker’s Department of Environmental Protection has significantly weakened Pennsylvania's rules on the application of sewage sludge. This page will detail some of the problems caused by this weakening of the rules and the Schweiker Administration's efforts to mislead the public about their efforts.
Sewage sludge can now be placed throughout the Commonwealth, and rules for testing and notification have been severely weakened.
| Amendment 2379 to Senate Bill 1413 |
Reduces the amount of Class B sewage sludge land applied
and/or used as fertilizer through voluntary means without increasing costs
to farmers and Pennsylvania wastewater treatment plants. Develops
educational outreach programs and incentive programs to cause the voluntary
reduction of the amount of sewage sludge land applied and/or used as
fertilizer. |
| Amendment 2454 to Senate Bill 1413 |
Requires agricultural operations that accept sewage sludge
that is deemed to have a direct adverse effect on public health and safety
to submit samples from a land application site as often as two times per
year, which will be analyzed by the DEP. |
| Amendment 1097 to House Bill 665 |
Mandates sewage sludge testing on reclamation sites. |
| Amendment 1796 to House Bill 66 |
No person who operates a vehicle that transports sewage
sludge from a municipal waste facility to a permitted disposal site or
facility may use that vehicle to accept or mix any material from a facility,
except a permitted waste water treatment plant. |
