(Now this is how you fight for your rights in the face of corporate power. Are you Wal-Mart accountability activists listening?)

100 Gear Up To Battle Sludge In New Ringgold
By Donald R. Serfass
Times News Online

“We’re here in the spirit of democracy - to exercise our right to a clean, safe and healthy environment.” Annette Etchberger, Concerned Citizens of East Brunswick Township.

Etchberger said the emergency forum was called in order to let folks stand up for what is right.

Etchberger said Dr. Freed, a gastroenterologist and advocate for a clean environment, graciously offered to host the meeting at his rural estate. Adding a touch of humor, Etchberger said Dr. Freed is available “to help treat those suffering from head-in-the-sand syndrome.”

Ben G. Price, project director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) told over 100 in attendance that sludge, despite claims to the contrary, “is not much of a fertilizer when we consider that Congress forbade it to be dumped off the coast some years ago. It contains over 600,000 toxins, and DEP tests for only 11.”

But the bottom line, he said, is that “people shouldn’t be put into the position of having to prove that it’s not bad for you.”

“It (sludge) contains over 600,000 toxins, and DEP tests for only 11.” Ben G. Price, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

Thomas A. Linzey, CELDF executive director, told attendees that much of the problem stems from government agencies that are supposed to protect the public, but actually do the opposite. He gave the example of the state Department of Environment Protection.

“When DEP issues a permit, they’re legalizing a harm that’s imposed on others,” Linzey explained.

The harm is especially hurtful in “rural area of Pennsylvania that hold little political power. You’re a sacrifice zone,” Linzey added.

However, there is an option to consider, he said. He told of harm done by factory farms and how nine states in the Midwest exerted their rights by passing local ordinances to ban corporations from farming.

Host Freed said sludge contains hospital waste and everything else that goes down a drain.

“When DEP issues a permit, they’re legalizing a harm that’s imposed on others.” Thomas A. Linzey, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

“If you want to get an infection that medicine won’t cure, go to a hospital,” said Freed. “As a physician, I have questions. I don’t think the studies have been done effectively. I don’t want it near my children, or near the hawks that fly and here on the Little Schuylkill River.”

Dr. Dante Picciano of the Army for a Clean Environment (ACE) said there is simply no proof that the dumping of sludge is okay.

“I know of no peer-reviewed studies that say the stuff is safe,” he said. Picciano also clarified that DEP actually tests for only 9, not 11, of the 600,000 toxins found in sludge.

Linzey and Price offered to help East Brunswick Township in the fight against sludge; a fight, they said, that boils down to the people’s right to protect themselves against harm being done by special interests that happen to hold some political sway.

“We’re not gonna take this crap,” stated Linzey.

“As a physician, I have questions… I don’t want it near my children, the hawks that fly, and here on the Little Schuylkill River.” Dr. Glenn Freed, New Ringgold gastroenterologist.

Linzey also noted that the CCEB is a non-profit, tax-exempt concern that is able to offer its services free of charge. His presentation garnered a loud round of applause. West Penn Township resident Bill Mackey and several other attendees commented prior to the session that a perceived threat of legal challenges can often be a hurdle to municipalities that try to enact strong protective ordinances.

The presentation included several references to the proposed Tamaqua biosolids ordinance, a cutting-edge document that likely will be voted on at Tuesday’s council meeting. Linzey and Price crafted the language, assisted by Picciano and the ACE group, and in consultation with Tamaqua Borough Council.

State Rep. David Argall joined the panel and took part in the discussion, as did Glenn W. Miller, township supervisor. Miller said the other supervisors were attending a mandatory FEMA workshop, something Miller had to give up in order to represent the board at the emergency forum. Also attending was Tamaqua Councilman Micah Gursky.

The Concerned Citizens of East Brunswick Township will present the township board with a signed petition and a recommended ordinance at the township meeting on September 7.