For the past ten years, Tammy Saltzman says a revolting smell permeates her home from a neighboring biosolids facility.
“Last night, I was up at two o'clock in the morning again, twice, in not even two weeks with smell coming in my house that we woke up gagging. My dogs even gag. And y’all are saying it's getting better,” Saltzman said.
Saltzman, who lives in Schuylkill County's "West End," says the smell from Natural Soil Products (NSP) makes “her eyes burn.”
All three county commissioners, representatives from local municipalities and the state were present at the meeting to support residents’ fight against the prevailing stench.
State Rep. Joanne Stehr (R-Schuylkill and Northumberland), worries she and her constituents are being exposed to unsafe odors, which she says have gotten worse in recent years.
“Nobody should have to live like we've lived the past two years. It has gotten better, instead of that dead corpse smell. We have…more the urine kind of smell to it,” said Stehr.
Biosolids, also known as "sewage sludge," according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are a product of the wastewater treatment process. Several facilities opened up in Pennsylvania’s coal region to reclaim abandoned mine land and are used in agriculture as mulch and fertilizer, according to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The DEP held a hearing last Thursday on the biosolids regulatory process at Tremont Municipal Building about five Schuylkill County facilities. Each of the facilities have come under fire for nuisance odors in the past, according to Roger Bellas, a program manager with DEP’s Waste Management Program.
Descriptions of the five Schuylkill County facilities from DEP:
- Natural Soil Products: a biosolids processor in Frailey Twp.
- Liberty Soils: a biosolids processor in Reilly Twp.
- Summit Anthracite (Stavola): a mining facility near Good Spring that uses materials from industrial wastewater treatment facilities for mine reclamation.
- Rausch Creek: a strip-mining site in Pine Grove with a mining permit application under review by DEP
- CES Landfill: a disposal site for municipal/residual waste. Located in Hegins. It’s seeking a permit to expand its facility from the DEP.
Residents blame NSP for the brunt of the stench. They say NSP’s new odor mitigation, its Gore Composting System, has done little to stop the sewage smell.
NSP has a history of DEP violations.
Last May, DEP ordered NSP’s parent company, Tully Environmental, Inc. to pay a civil penalty of $50,000, install additional odor mitigation equipment, reduce its sewage sludge to 325 tons per day, file monthly manufacturing reports with DEP and conduct odor patrols at its facility and nearby areas.
DEP documents show NSP was installing its updated odor mitigation system in late 2023, but residents say the department hasn’t done enough to control NSP. DEP officials at last Thursday’s meeting said NSP is currently building walls around its composting system to reduce the smell.
WVIA reached out to all five biosolids facilities for comment. NSP, Liberty, Rausch Creek and CES did not respond.
Thomas Branch, an environmental health and safety manager with Summit, said the company is "aware of odor complaints and has resolved them to the DEP's satisfaction."
But residents say DEP has not done enough to prevent new or worsening smells from the county’s facilities. While residents said some facilities have not emitted noticeable smells recently, they worry that the smells may come back in the future.
DEP officials explained that they test reported noticeable smells by sending staff to smell the area themselves.
In response to a submitted question from a resident, Bellas explained why the coal region is ‘so vulnerable’ to biosolids companies. The ‘West End’ of Schuylkill, which includes communities like Frailey Twp., Good Spring, Reilly, Hegins and Pine Grove, is a DEP-designated Environmental Justice area, which means it is more at risk for environmental degradation.
Bellas said Schuylkill County and the coal region is at risk because of the “history” of the area.
“Let's not forget that this area… had and still has a lot of mine reclamation land that is kind of void of a lot of vegetation right now. So for years, there were mine reclamation projects occurring that needed these biosolids. So, these biosolids processing facilities popped up. And unfortunately, once they got here, they stayed here, and now they're generating material that's not only used for mine reclamation, but agriculture in the area,” said Bellas.
Good Springs resident Debra Bourgeois argued that the "West End" community is done with being taken advantage of.
“I'm sure all of these people here would gladly stand in court and say, ‘We cannot handle this smell anymore. We're tired of living like this and paying taxes,’” said Bourgeois. “You can’t enjoy having picnics, parties, sitting out on a porch. Having children – they can't even stand going outside to play. I don't quite understand how government can mess up people's lives, but they want us to pay taxes and be good citizens, but they don't want to treat us right?”
Since serving as county chairman since January, Larry Padora said he hears complaints from residents about offensive odors at every county meeting.
“So, I want these companies just to be a good neighbor and a good partner to the people of the west end of the county,” said Padora.
Maria Ocasio, DEP’s Northeast Office’s new Environmental Justice Coordinator said the department will take action against offending facilities. Ocasio was hired in June 2024.
“I do want to hear, and I do want to collaborate with you…I don't want this to just be a dismissive throwaway. So, I appreciate you talking, so I do thank you tonight, [for] just even taking the time and speaking to your frustration. You hear the frustration. I'm not going to sit here and lie and say, you know I understand it…I'm not [from] around here, but I do appreciate taking time to talk to me,” said Ocasio.
The Department of Environmental Protection's hotline to report offensive odors is 570-826-2511.
