Buckingham Township officials Wednesday heard from residents frightened and angered by social media posts deriding the township’s plan to add another wastewater spray field to its spray irrigation program.
The issue prompted a two-and-a-half-hour public comment session at the April 24 board of supervisors meeting, and a pre-meeting post on the township website.
Speakers from the standing-room-only crowd were especially concerned about health and safety issues the posts raised regarding the plan to add a spray field on Street Road near Mechanicsville Road. They also questioned the manner in which the township obtained the property for that purpose.
The use of spray fields in the township has been in effect since 1988.
The township’s response featured its certified wastewater engineer, Gary Weaver, and Jim Walter, co-chair of its Environmental Advisory Commission, who is also a certified Master Watershed Steward.
The pair, while responding to speakers’ concerns with supervisors frequently joining in, were often interrupted by shouts from the audience challenging their statements.
Residents were especially concerned about recent national and local publicity regarding PFOA contamination, and related and other local environmental problems. Officials were adamant that those were unrelated concerns.
Regarding the purchase of the property, via eminent domain, the township responded at length in its website post. It also engaged the former owner during the public comment session, though the township solicitor noted discussion would have to be limited there.
Also in its website post, the township emphasized its long experience with spray fields as a wastewater management tool, especially noting that “only treated wastewater is disposed of on our sites, and residents can rest assured that there is absolutely no disposal of treated sludge (biosolids) as some social media posts have suggested.”
Spray fields are alternately rested and farmed, creating an ongoing need to add more to adequately handle wastewater load.
The post noted various environmental benefits of the practice, as recognized by the state Department of Environmental Protection; the Delaware River Basin Commission; and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Responding to health and property value concerns over locating spray fields near homes, the post reported “little if any problems.”
“(M)ost of our (11) spray fields are surrounded by homes, and some of those lots have become premium parcels, since the land they sit adjacent to will never be developed,” the post stated.
Township Manager Dana Cozza and other officials said more information would be forthcoming about the spray irrigation program.
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