New York State rules against Wheatfield on biosolids

A state agency has a different view of Wheatfield’s ban on biosolids than a court does.  Supervisor Robert B. Cliffe on Tuesday released a letter from Thursday by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, declaring that the law unreasonably restricts farmers in using legal fertilizer.  The letter ordered the town to confirm within 30 days that it will not enforce its law against Milleville Brothers Farms, a large farming operation that owns land in Wheatfield and several other Niagara County towns. It obtained a state license allowing it to inject biosolids into fields.  However, the town’s law, passed in the summer of 2014, bars such use, even for those with state licenses.  Cliffe said the town is reviewing its legal options.