http://www.republicanherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18071510&BRD=2626&PAG=461&dept_id=530483&rfi=6

Once almost exclusively agricultural, the southern Schuylkill County municipality sees a growing population and the construction of many new houses on what used to be farmland.

McKeans Ridge and Scenic Mountain serve as two examples of sites of this new construction, which also enriches the township’s coffers with increased property tax revenues.

While not necessarily a battle between farmers and new residents, the ordinance supervisors enacted in 2006 restricting the use of biosolids on local farms exemplifies the conflict that often results when different ways of life collide.

Worse for the township, the state Attorney General’s Office is threatening to challenge the legality of the ordinance as a violation of the 2005 law forbidding interference with agriculture.

The ordinance is a classic example of enacting legislation based on emotion rather than logic, and not realizing until afterward that while rhetoric might sound good, it makes for bad public policy. East Brunswick needs to repeal the ordinance before it faces a court fight it will have trouble winning.

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In this changing municipality, biosolids have become an example of people viewing the same thing in different ways.

Many farmers use them as a way to improve the soil and increase crop yields. In agriculture — a business that is fraught with problems in the best of times — anything that can help farmers produce more is worth examining and presumptively worth using.

Jeff Hill, the tree farmer who has filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office about the ordinance, says biosolids help to hold moisture in the ground during dry seasons and allow for a longer-lasting release of nutrients for the trees. Obviously, that will help him produce more and better trees, and also help other farmers produce higher and better crop yields.

Lots of folks dislike biosolids, however. Many believe they contain pathogens and other harmful materials that can damage health.

Usually, they call the materials “sludge” as opposed to the correct scientific term “biosolids” — a telling point that highlights the nature of the debate.

Supporters of biosolids show the benefits of the materials and present scientific facts in favor of their position. Their arguments are logical and rational, and seldom if ever are directly challenged by their foes, who prefer to shift the focus of the debate.

Opponents of biosolids are long on rhetoric and claims, and short on scientific evidence of the purported harm from them. However, their arguments sound better to public officials, particularly when the full examination of facts is time-consuming and opponents have more votes.

The state law barring interference with agriculture, however, exists for sound reasons.

Fewer and fewer Pennsylvania farmers manage to stay in business every year, and many of those who do live in areas like East Brunswick Township, where development is increasing and not all the newcomers want to live near a working farm.

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It is a paradox that many people who move to the country don’t like the farms that already are there, even though those farms help preserve the rural way of life that they want. Apparently, they like the abstract idea of country living more than the reality of it.