Biosolid Land Application Is Coming to Plainfield Township Unless We Take Action
Plainfield Township residents, with homes abutting the property purchased by Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority, recently received a letter from Material Matters stating “The NBMA Hower Farm, located at 6249 Hower Road, Nazareth PA, is currently in the process of being qualified to receive biosolids through an approval process known as a 30-Day Notice from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP).”
On October 13, 2023 Material Matters officially filed a 30-Day Notice with the PADEP.
The proposed dumping site is located on Hower Road directly across from the Plainfield Community Park and next to the Plainfield Farmer’s Grove, home of the Annual Plainfield Farmer’s Fair. If this biosolid land application is approved the children of Plainfield Township and surrounding communities, including Nazareth Borough, will be affected. Their sporting events will be plagued with excessive odor and potential health risks.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently doing a Risk Assessment of Pollutants in Biosolids. The EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program currently has 787 chemicals on its TRI Chemical List, 172 of these are PFAS (forever chemicals). Chemicals named in the TRI Program are those that cause one or more of the following: Cancer or other chronic human health effects; significant adverse human health effects; and significant adverse environmental effects. Yet the DEP has no regulations to check for these PFAs in the biosolid waste that is being spread all across PA and the rest of the country.
Without testing no one will know for sure what effects this biosolid waste will have on our community, but the health and well-being of our children is not worth the risk! The only way to stop Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority from dumping their Biosolid Waste in Plainfield Township is to begin an appeal of their application to the Department of Environmental Protection.
You can read more about the EPA TRI Program here:
