It’s a beautiful July afternoon in central PA. With the holiday, many are home and looking forward to enjoying a long Independence Day weekend with their families and friends. But for Meadowbrook Farms Neighborhood in the Cumberland Valley School District and many others across the West Shore something is amiss. No children laugh and play, no basketballs bounce. No barbeques tantalize walkers by, and in fact, the sidewalks are empty. So are the pools and swing sets, patios and decks. Windows are shut tight.
For about a month, families have been trapped inside by the noxious and overwhelming stench of food processing residuals. This is not your typical fertilizer or manure. It is far viler and more revolting than even the controversial human waste and industrial sludge used on some farms. Overall, most of the families suffering are families that have lived amongst agriculture for years and accept that it doesn’t always smell like roses and cotton candy. They support farming in ways both large and small and our resilient and active kiddos never let a little country perfume stop the summer fun.
This however is truly unbearable. Families hold their breath when getting in the car and sprinkle peppermint in the doorways. Adults and children alike report retching and gagging and vomiting, just from normal activities like trying to enjoy their yards or walking their dogs.
It sounds like an exaggeration. It sounds overly dramatic. But the truth of the matter is, I live in one of these neighborhoods and it is quite literally the worst smell I have ever dealt with. It is the smell of death and rotting flesh. It has caused tears and nausea and vomiting. And we are terrified that there is little we can do to stop it.
What are food processing residuals (FPRs)?
Basically, whatever is leftover when farms process food and generally includes “process wastewater from cleaning slaughter areas, rinsing carcasses, or conveying food materials; process wastewater treatment sludges; blood; bone; fruit and vegetable peels; seeds; shells; pits; cheese whey; off-specification food products; hides; hair and feathers.” (source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Food Processing Residual Management Manual)
Due to the vile nature of spreading what amounts to liquified rotting carcasses and the extremely high risk of groundwater contamination due to high nitrites, E. coli and coliform bacteria as well as the long laundry list of dangerous contaminants found in FPRs, many local bordering states no longer allow FPRs to be spread or even dumped in landfills, but what is too dangerous for a Virginia Landfill, is apparently welcome in a Pennsylvania back yard. (source: East Coventry Advocacy)
It’s a hard deal for farmers to resist. Farmers in the Cumberland Valley are being paid by out of state factory farms to spread this corruption on our land and the benefit for them is two-fold: not only do they get a windfall, but they do not need to purchase safer, better regulated, and more tolerable fertilizers.
Besides the stench, the danger to our health is real.
FPR's show a track record of quickly spreading and contaminating the water shed. According to Chester County Advocacy groups, wells poisoned by FPRs in 2021 still are unusable. Long term consequences have not been researched.
Additionally, environmental agencies stress that there are some crucial considerations that need to be made before FPRs are spread, but sadly, no one is checking or regulating.
• “Adequate soil depth, drainage and texture are critical to filter FPR contents before they reach groundwater.
• It’s critical that FPR it not spread near surface waters (streams, ponds, wetlands, etc.), or near wells, sinkholes, undrained depressions, or bedrock outcrops.
• It’s important that FPR it not spread on slopes greater than 15% (3% in winter) or stormwater runoff could wash it into these areas.” (Source East Coventry Advocacy)
What can we do?
Although the DEP manual (which hasn’t been updated in more than 20 years) includes similar recommendations to those listed above, they are only unregulated recommendations, and DEP doesn’t get involved unless a problem is reported.
Sadly, out of state waste haulers are exploiting the provisions offered to farmers in PA Right to Farm Act, which limits nuisance suits and ordinances against farmers but we must do what we can to stop this practice.
I believe that our best way to address this problem is through the DEP. Please, file a complaint with Department of Environmental Protection online or call 866-255-5158. I am still researching and I will update this article if other avenues become apparent. You can also sign this petition created by a concerned community member.
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