Posted on 02/15/2008 8:10:48 AM PST by ThinkingBuddha
BARR TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Controversy over a manmade outhouse could end up with members of an Amish community in jail.
Neighbors of the Cambria County Amish community complained about the bathroom facilities the Amish are using because they take waste from their outhouse and dump it onto their property.
The property is in the same area near underground wells for nearby residents.
The complaints made to the Cambria County Sewage Enforcement Agency were investigated and citations were filed against the Amish property owners.
The owners said they refuse to pay any fines, because it is against their religious beliefs, and will go to jail if necessary.
Deborah Sedlmeyer, of the Cambria County Sewage Enforcement Agency, said the law doesn't allow residents to discharge sewage onto their property and outhouses must have an approved containing device. The Amish community in question has neither, and nearby residents said that's what concerns them.
"Some of them have had concerns about water quality. There are some on-site wells, so obviously there's an issue. The sewage is often times discharged (and) placed onto the ground, so there are some water quality issues."
The Amish families in Barr Township said they are aware they are facing a list of charges, but said they would not compromise their beliefs because of it.
"If they don't comply, they will be fined. They don't believe in the payment of fines, so they've already attested that they will go to jail in lieu of paying fines," Sedlmeyer said.
The Amish families live a very simple lifestyle with no electricity or cars and said it is against their religion to make the upgrades. They also said they don't mean to bother anyone in the area and are just trying to live the way their forefathers did.
"We certainly respect them for their religious beliefs, but as Pennsylvania residents, they are required to follow state law," Sedlmeyer said.
Asking for the Amish to use suitable containment for their waste and forcing them to accept a community sewage system is a stretch.
“(scratching his head) What other kind is there?”
Perhaps there are “natural” outhouses in the wild that we don’t know about. I’m sure they’re endangered.
I think humann waste is considered more toxic. Because animal fertilizers have been used for eons, but human waste is “treated”... they probably disperse it in DC after treatment because many member of Congress are full of it...
It has to be heavily composted to become safe. Otherwise there’s a real chance of passing on bacteria and parasitic worms to people who eat food grown on that land. Asians use night soil, but only after a “taster” says it has composted enough.
All the anaerobic systems I’m familiar with require an air compressor and a pump.
I will consider my hand slapped.LOL!
There ARE plastic outhouses. They’re all over the place where there are large crowds.
Farmers have always done that. With liquid manure the smell is really bad, but hey, don’t move next to a farm if you don’t want to smell the ‘country coffee.’
agreed.
Burning Sh*t was definitely a motivation enhancer among my Army Guys, and then a scrape and dump at the land fill.
My dad was in Vietnam too.
The first time I ever heard that that was the way waste was disposed of in the Army, I was 21.
On my 21st birthday, I had to work 2nd shift at a CNC programming job I was doing in college. I pissed and moaned about it because of course, I wanted to go out drinking.
Well, he proceeded to tell me on HIS 21st birthday, he got in trouble for something over there. His punishment was being assigned to burn s**t for HOURS that night.
I shut up about my birthday after that. :)
Don’t to be hard on your Father for getting into trouble. If they did not have enough people to fill the SH*T burning detail the powers that be would find or invent an infraction!
the regular towns people must have some really shallow wells
the normal biologic activity of human waste placed in shallow ground should destroy, disperse, deplete any human-originating pathogens left in the liquid-form-of the waste before that liquid reaches the water level of most domestic wells
most all public water facilities and the best domestic-well water filter systems should eliminate the pathogens of most concern anyway
“Some of them already have them...”
Yes, cell phones are prevalent in the Amish communities in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. I think it started in PA - apparently a bishop said “okay” to them, or else the people decided they were okay. Many here in Ohio do have them - I am often among them in Holmes County, and see cell phones in use.
I’ve never been hard on my father since I grew up.
He’s forgotten more than I will ever know.
Every time I read something about the Amish (and I grew up in PA) or any other sect that lives free in this country but refuses for fight for those freedoms, just makes me shake my head. And the Amish are a wonderful group of people but I have a hard time getting past the fact they won’t fight for the freedoms they enjoy yet benefit from those freedoms.
Clop, Clop, Clop, Clop, Clop
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Clop, Clop, Clop, Clop, Clop
It's an Amish drive-by shooting!
True - I just don’t think of those as outhouses but I guess they are, more or less.
To me a real out house is a two holer or three holer made of wood and sitting over a pit in the ground.
A real wodden outdoor throne has a certain “atmosphere” missing from those Port-A-Pots.
I’m guessing the picky neighbors would not like that solution a whole lot either. My hubby has also been around burning human waste in the military and he said the smell is “indescribable” LOL- but he also said “you do get used to it and learn to ignore it” but I am not so sure the complaining neighbors would want to get used to it.
My sympathies are with the Amish, they have been in the same place, living the same way for many years- now newcomers to the community want to force changes on them. We have the same type of people move in here- they “love” the country and want to live the “country life” and then what they really want is for the folks already living there to change their ways of doing things so they are not annoyed by animal smells, etc. Culture clash.
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