Residents affected by the “immense, putrid smell” they say is emanating from a biosolids producer in western Schuylkill County are urging the public to voice their opposition to the company’s desire to extend its operating permit.
Natural Soil Products (NSP), which turns human sewage sludge into field-worthy, spreadable biosolids, in Frailey Township has applied to the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection for an operating permit renewal. DEP is currently accepting public comment on that application until Aug. 12.
NSP has been subjected to numerous violation notices from DEP over the years it’s operated in Schuylkill County. It was fined $50,000 a few years ago, and been forced to install a drying system for the material it intakes that has proven to be mostly ineffective.
At last week’s Schuylkill County Commissioners meeting, several residents affected by the smells and pollution they say the company spreads into the air through its process, explained how their lives are adversely affected by NSP. And they’re encouraging their neighbors in surrounding communities to let DEP know that it’s time to put an end to the reckless company.
Lara Wiscount, of Tremont, told Commissioners that every morning before she goes for a walk or run, she must do a “sniff check” before heading outside.
“I stick my head out the door. Does it smell like sh**? Can I go for a walk or run,” she told Commissioners.
Even on the days that Wiscount says it doesn’t smell and she decides to go out for some exercise, she says she comes home to realize that it doesn’t have to smell to affect her.
“I have the taste of sh** in my throat and in my mouth,” she adds.
Wiscount believes the smell emanating from NSP – which she says has only allowed her to open the window of her house a few days in the last couple years – is affecting her overall health. But she doesn’t want to become some science experiment for researchers down the line.
“I don’t want a study in 15 years when I have cancer. I want to know what damage is this doing to my body now. I don’t even have to smell it and I’m tasting it. A smell check should not be the measure. It’s impacting our daily life and it’s appalling,” she said.
Lara’s husband, Joe, encouraged DEP in his comments to just end the operation NSP has going in Schuylkill County.
“We want it shut down. They can not control the odors. It just needs to be shut down,” he says.
He says residents of western Schuylkill County have done everything asked of them for years to encourage regulators to keep NSP in check. And it’s come to result in nothing, essentially, he says.
“We’ve been patient. We’ve followed the process. We’ve made numerous calls to DEP when our air has been unbreathable as we have been told to do. We have emailed. We have filed complaints. We have spoken at the Commissioners meetings. We have waited for DEP’s consent order to fix this problem. None of this has addressed it. We deal with these consequences daily,” Wiscount adds.
Both Wiscounts and the Commissioners encouraged residents to voice their concerns, not only through written public comments with regard to the proposed permit renewal but also with phone calls.
To submit a public comment in writing, it must be submitted to the DEP Wilkes-Barre office. Here is contact information and an address to send public comments on NSP’s permit renewal application:
PA Department of Environmental Protection
Northeast Regional Office, Waste Management Program
2 Public Square
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711-0790
Phone: 570-826-2511
Comments can be emailed to: RA-EPWM-NERO@pa.gov
The Commissioners say DEP has worked to address the timeliness issue with complaints by stationing someone who can respond to complaints more quickly than in the past. Previously, complaints regarding NSP smells prompted someone from DEP’s Wilkes-Barre office to travel to Schuylkill County to investigate. And by the time that agent would get here, the smell could have gone away. Now, the Commissioners say, DEP has that person working from its Pottsville office.
Chairman Larry Padora also urged residents to phone DEP with their complaints regularly. He also said the Commissioners will be submitting a public comment letter opposing the “expansion” at NSP.
He expressed frustration that the Gore drying system has mostly been ineffective at controlling odors at the biosolids facility. Padora said the Commissioners told DEP Sec. Jessica Shirley in a meeting earlier this year that if DEP can’t handle the issue, he wants the County government to be entrusted with the power to handle it in lieu of state agents.
Commissioner Boots Hetherington said that, “Jessica Shirley was here. She understands. She, at no point, defended what they’re doing. She is very upset with what is going on. She is trying to work within the scope of the law … to clamp down on this operation.”
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Scoob
July 27, 2026 at 6:57 pm
Unfortunately it won’t get sgut down or even looked into. Too many pockets are getting lined.