Delaware RiverKeeper Network Hosts May 27 Webinar On Biosolids And Sewage Sludge Impacts On Farms In Pennsylvania

The Delaware RiverKeeper Network will host a May 27 webinar on Biosolids And Sewage Sludge Impacts On Farms In Pennsylvania starting at 7:00 p.m.

Sewage sludge, processed into “biosolids”, has been applied on farm fields for decades in Pennsylvania. The application on land is considered a “beneficial use” under state regulations and permitting. 

There is mounting evidence that biosolids applied on farms can contaminate groundwater, surface water, soil, air, and crops/farm products, according to the Delaware RiverKeeper. 

Both Maine and Connecticut have banned the practice, and other states are adopting regulations to limit the pollutants-- like PFAS 'Forever Chemicals'-- that can migrate into the environment and our drinking water from land treated with biosolids. 

Pennsylvania is considering issuing revised permits that cover biosolids and sewage sludge.

Participants will hear from Laura Orlando, a scientist and engineering expert from Just Zero, and from community members where biosolids are a threat. 

Join us to learn about how biosolids can impact those who live where they are applied to the land, the human health and environmental effects, the dangers posed by continuing “business as usual,” and what the Department of Environment Protection is considering doing about it.

Click Here to register and for more information.

Visit the Delaware RiverKeeper Network website to learn more about environmental issues in the Delaware River Watershed.

Upcoming Events

-- May 11-- In-Person. DEP Hearing On North Centre Twp. PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Hazardous Site Response In 12 Municipalities In Columbia County Involving Contaminated Sewage Sludge. Central Columbia High School Auditorium 4777 Old Berwick Road, Bloomsburg. 5:00 p.m. open house. 7:00 p.m. hearing.

-- May 12-- Agenda Posted.  DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting. 12:30 p.m. Contact: Ian Irvin iirvin@pa.gov or 717-579-0329.  [Data Centers and Biosolids Application on Farms]   Read more on agenda.

Resource Links:

-- DEP To Hold May 11 Hearing On North Centre Twp. PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Hazardous Site Response In 12 Municipalities In Columbia County Involving Contaminated Sewage Sludge

-- DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets May 12 For Presentations On A Data Center Guide From Chester, Montgomery Counties; PFAS ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination In Biosolids

-- DEP Briefing: Proposed Changes To Biosolids Permits To Reduce Risks From PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Phosphorus Pollution, Improper Storage, Set More Robust Testing Standards

-- EPA Releases Draft Risk Assessment Saying Land Application Of Biosolids With PFOA And PFOS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Can Be A Human Health Risk

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP: Increased Protections For More Than 530 Miles Of 98 Streams Now Final  [PaEN] 

-- Register Now! Choose Clean Water Coalition 2026 Choose Clean Water Conference Set For May 18-20 In Lancaster  [PaEN]

-- Native Garden At Wissahickon High School, Montgomery County Thrives Thanks To Work Of Master Watershed Steward Erin Crump  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Awards $6.4 Million In Grants For 19 Local Drought Resiliency Projects Saving 1.5 Billion Gallons Of Water Annually  [PaEN]  

-- Delaware RiverKeeper Network Hosts May 27 Webinar On Biosolids And Sewage Sludge Impacts On Farms In Pennsylvania  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Extension June 9  Webinar On Creating Connections Through Citizen - Community Science  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Extension Hosts June 12 In-Person Field To Data - Environmental Stream Health Monitoring In Action Workshop In Huntingdon County  [PaEN] 

Public Participation

-- DEP Invites Comments On Section 401 Water Quality Certification For Eastern Gas Transmission 20-Inch Natural Gas Pipeline In Salem Twp., Westmoreland County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP To Host June 2 Informal Conference, Hearing On Permit To Add 4,342 Acres To Rosebud Clymer A Coal Mine In Cherryhill Twp., Indiana County [PaEN]  

-- DEP Invites Comments On Water Quality Permit Amendment To Correct Wetlands Impacts For Homer City Generation Data Center Project In Indiana County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Accepting Comments On Water Quality Permit For Transmission Line Project To Connect Three Mile Island Nuclear Data Center Power Plant To Grid In Dauphin County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For PPL Utilities Juniata-Shermansdale, Juniata-Bernheisel High Voltage Transmission Line Projects In Perry, Cumberland Counties To Serve Data Centers In Middlesex Twp.  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- LancasterOnline: Janus School Students Release Trout Into Little Chiques Creek From Trout In The Classroom Program  

-- Inquirer - Andrew Seidman: Inside Merck’s Lobbying Of Gov. Shapiro’s Office To Ease Water Pollution Reporting Regulation [DEP Abandoned Revisions]

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Field Project Examines What ‘Thriving Ag’ Could Look Like In The Future  

-- NRCS-PA Emergency Watershed Protection Program Disaster Recovery After Hurricane Debby In Pennsylvania

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Pennsylvania Again Led Nation In Dam Removals For 2025

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Others Challenge EPA Repeal Of Climate Endangerment Finding

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Adams County Facility To Burn Chicken Manure To Generate Energy, Reduce Nitrogen Sits Idle For Nearly A Decade

-- Scranton Times: Lakeland School District To Install Treatment System To Address PFAS ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination Of Drinking Water

-- Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper Names Katie Cassidy New Deputy Director

-- Scranton Times: Lakeland School District To Install Treatment System To Address PFAS ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination Of Drinking Water

-- Scranton Times: Keystone Landfill To Produce Much More Leachate Wastewater Than Expected

-- Stroud Water Research Center UpStream News: Boots-In-The-Water; Whose Mud Is It? From Stream Sensors To Bee Hives

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Turnpike Plan To Cut An Open Gash In The Allegheny Mountain To Bypass Tunnel Draws Opposition In Somerset County

-- Tribune-Democrat: Group Takes Fight Against PA Turnpike Proposal To Make A Massive Cut Thru The Allegheny Mountain To Harrisburg: ‘We Won’t Be Ignored’ 

-- Post-Gazette: Group Fighting PA Turnpike Plan To Cut Massive Slash Thru Allegheny Mountain

-- PennLive: Group Fights PA Turnpike Plan To Cut Massive Slash Thru Allegheny Mountain: ‘Scar On The Landscape’

-- PennLive: PA Supreme Court Deals Blow To Effort To Get State Govt. To Pay Stormwater Fees For Harrisburg Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrades 

-- KDKA: Allegheny County Sanitary Authority $3 Billion Wastewater Project Already Hundreds Of Millions Over Budget, Officials Say 

-- The Appalachian Voice: Many Federal Permitting ‘Reform’ Proposals Would Further Strip Environmental Protections, Weaken Public Input 

-- AP: President’s FEMA Review Council Proposes Sweeping Changes To Federal Disaster Support Putting Far More Responsibility On States 

[Posted: May 9, 2026]  PA Environment Digest