As many of you know, there has been a proposal on the table in East Hopewell Township to build a hog farm (2,200 hogs) on Round Hill Church Rd between Rock Jim and Macks Roads.
The farmers, John Marsteller Senior and Junior, currently spread sludge on many of the properties they own in that area as well as the area around Gun Club, Blue Ball, Maize, Wheat and Manifold School Roads. They plan to dump the manure from the hog operation on the same land. They claim they won’t do both at the same time.
SRACA has been working with a lab in York to have wells in the area tested for nitrate, phosphorus, coliform and e.coli bacteria. Of the 15 wells tested so far in that area, 6 have had nitrate levels between 7.5 and 9.9. One has come back at 10.8 mg/L which is over the EPA/DEP limit of 10mg/L.
SRACA is concerned about the high nitrate levels we are seeing. We are encouraging everyone to invest $62 in getting their well tested. We have test kits available. It is a good practice to periodically have your well tested anyway.
Just so that you understand, when nutrients are applied to the land, the crops are supposed to absorb most of the nutrients. The problem is that there are minimal crops on the land when they apply manure or sludge because they cannot be applied to crops that are growing above the ground. The root systems of freshly seeded crops are not mature enough, so much of the nutrient runs off.
This run off enters Rambo Run and Muddy Creek (North and South Branches). From there is goes to the Susquehanna River. Along the way, it percolates through the bedrock in the creek beds and works it’s way to our wells as our well recharge.
To get our contact information, please visit our website at http://www.sraca.org Most of our members have extra test kits at their homes. In addition, if enough people want to do it at the same time, we might be able to help organize a single pick up to get the water to the lab.
We are building a map of the results and we are looking at working with some experts in this field. We need help with funding the experts.
The next township meeting is December 1st at the fire hall in Stewartstown at 7:15pm. Marsteller was granted a 30 day extension in order to drill a well to prove he could get water. This should be the last meeting before the supervisors vote on this proposal.
