After about a month's reprieve, treated waste from Allegheny County Sanitary Authority will again be hauled and spread as fertilizer on farmland in Jackson Township starting Thursday.

The delivery of the treated waste to an 800-plus acre farm owned by Roy H. Neer, Slippery Rock, began May 19, but was halted within days after area residents raised a stink over the dumping of what has been called "sludge" near their homes.

Because some adjacent property owners claimed they did not receive a state-mandated 30-day notice of the waste spreading, the state Department of Environmental Protection began to investigate the claims. Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, the source of the waste, stopped sending the waste while residents' questions and concerns were addressed at several town meetings.

Delivery will resume next week, according to Carole Shanahan, residuals program manager with ALCOSAN. DEP told the authority every adjacent neighbor that was required to be notified had been notified, she said..

She said that roughly 20,000 tons would be delivered in the next four to six weeks. According to their normal process, ALCOSAN would deliver the product again next year around the same time to continue building up the organic matter in the soil and stop erosion.

ALCOSAN has a permit to dump the waste for five years and it can be renewed as long as they continue to follow regulations, Ms. Shanahan said.

Jackson Township supervisors, at the request of the residents, have asked their solicitor Robert Kochems to look into crafting an ordinance that would place restrictions on where the product can be spread in the township, but are concerned about the repercussions in light of a U.S. District Court recent ruling against a township in Center County that tried to restrict the hauling of treated waste into their community.

"This township is the size of ours, and they're getting sued for over $2 million," said Jackson Township supervisor Brian Patterson, referring to Rush Township. "We can regulate but not restrict. You've got to be really careful of what you try to regulate in Pennsylvania."

Patterson said Kochems would have something for the supervisors to review at their July 3 meeting at the township building. "He wants to run it past several attorneys in Pittsburgh."