Published Wednesday, August 7, 2002
in to sniff sludge
Herald Staff Writer
» A big nose -- a mobile laboratory, actually -- is trying to discover what some Jackson Township residents are raising such a stink about.
Township residents have been complaining about an odor -- described by some as similar to raw sewage -- they claim is coming from treated municipal waste solids being spread on more than 800 acres of pastureland bordered by state Route 965 and U.S. Route 62. The story ran Wednesday.
The waste produced by Allegheny County Sanitary Authority -- ALCOSAN -- is being used as fertilizer on land owned by Roy Neer of Slippery Rock Township.
Locals have been in an uproar since the first sludge-hauling trucks rolled through the area May 19. Critics of the practice say the waste is dangerous to residents and wildlife and took their complaints to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
"We are looking for the compounds emitted that are presumably causing the odor," said Ric Gilson, regional manager of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Water Management Program.
To do that, DEP brought out the "big schnozz." That's how Freda Tarbell, DEP community relations coordinator, described a mobile lab that will decipher the compounds causing the odor. Formally known as Open Path Fourier Transform Infrared Instrumentation, the $250,000 lab looks a little like an ice-cream truck.
The lab packs an infrared wallop that can detect what creates odors in certain areas, Gilson said. "It basically shoots an infrared beam out to a reflector and then a machine (inside the truck) is recording constantly," he said.
The mobile detector was on Neer's property Monday and Tuesday while treated waste from ALCOSAN is being spread.
Gilson explained that this was the first time the mobile lab had been used on-site during the spreading of treated waste solids.
"We usually use it at waste treatment plants to deal with odor problems. We're probably learning a lot as we go along," he said.
DEP decided to bring out the lab last month after a high volume of complaints to the department, ALCOSAN, and state and local representatives concerning the smell brought all the parties together to find some answers. DEP said they were looking at several options such as finding a way to reduce the odor, spreading the waste on a different property, or stopping the hauling of the treated waste into the township.
But Gilson didn't think the last option was likely. "We consider this stuff an agricultural commodity. We don't shut farms down for spreading the chicken manure too thick," he said. "I don't want to put any false hopes in anyone's mind."
And, Gilson added, it could take DEP up to a month to decipher the all the data. In the meantime the spreading is continuing.
"Hopefully what we're going to find is the compounds that are at the root of the odor, then we should be able to give this information to ALCOSAN, so they can address the problem," said Gilson. "It's not going to give any immediate relief, but in the long run, it's going to tell us something and we can address those issues in the long term."