Dive Brief:
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear a case that challenges the use of the land application of biosolids as a recycling practice, focusing on whether the state Right to Farm Act prevents the case from being brought.
- The court will interpret the act to determine if a judge or jury renders protection from lawsuits filed more than one year after agricultural work is performed.
- Biosolids are processed municipal wastewater solids that meet established criteria designed to render the waste suitable for use on land.
Dive Insight:
In 2008, a group of 34 plaintiffs sued a municipal biosolids contractor, Synagro, and farmers who used biosolids in York County, PA. The case was dismissed, with a judge citing a failure on behalf of the plaintiffs to file the lawsuit within a year of the alleged action -- one of the provisions of the Pennsylvania Right To Farm Act. In April the ruling was reversed on appeal, and the court will now take up that case.
The case marks the first time the state high court will consider whether a judge or a jury is responsible for ruling on the lawsuit deadline in the act.