Glenn Beers believes in keeping a pristine farm for his tree farming business.

The owner of Old Homestead Tree Farm in Towamensing Township recently spoke about the importance of understanding the negative impacts of using sludge as a fertilizer on farmers’ fields.

He was one of a handful of Carbon County residents who gathered last week outside the Carbon County Administration Building to urge the county commissioners to sign a resolution supporting municipalities having the power to regulate sewage sludge being brought in and used on farms.

Beers said that he doesn’t believe the application of this sludge is an acceptable disposal use.

“It should be put somewhere it can’t leach into the soils and then into the vegetables you eat,” he said. “ I think in the long term, it will come back to get us.”

Beers said that he has never used it on his farm and has no plans to start.

He has done research and realized that the heavy metals and other toxins in the sludge can leach into the soil and a farmer can never get rid of it, possibly making that farm land unfarmable.

Old Homestead Tree Farm has been part of Beers’ family since the 1700s, when the land was granted to his ancestor in the William Penn Land Grant.

The 200-plus acre farm has continued to operate and now offers 25 varieties of trees, as well as pumpkins.

“There is a lot of history there and if we ruin it, it is ruined forever,” Beers said. “When those chemicals are in the ground they don’t call them forever chemicals for nothing.”

In addition, blueberry farmers Amy and Bill Levinson spoke about their decision not to use sludge on their farmlands.

Susan Frey, a resident of East Penn Township and a neighbor to a farm that has used the sludge for fertilizer for several years, also spoke about her concerns about sludge.

According to Frey, people living within a half-mile from a sludged field are more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.

Linda Christman of Save Carbon County organized the event, saying that it is important for the county to make sure the residents are protected by taking a stand, even though the land agricultural board chose to not make a stand either way on the matter.