2 Amish families locked out of homes in sewage dispute

By KATHY MELLOTT

EBENSBURG — One of the last things Susan Miller brought out of her home Monday was a bag of homemade oatmeal cookies.

She handed out the cookies even as Cambria County sheriff’s deputies padlocked her Blacklick Township home.

The Millers – Susan and her husband, John, and their young son

– were the second of two Amish families evicted by the county for refusing to make improvements to their outdoor toilets.

Earlier in the day, the same deputies had locked outbuildings and the house belonging to Joely and Mary Swartzentruver on Amadei Road in Barr Township.

“I guess we will go live with some other Amish family,” Joely Swartzentruver said as he watched the deputies put 14 locks on buildings on his property.

The evictions were ordered Friday by Judge Norman Krumenacker because the two Amish families have not complied with Cambria County sewage and building code regulations.

On arriving at the Swartzentruver farm, deputies were met by about a dozen bearded Amish men – all dressed in navy blue and wearing traditional straw hats.

The men stood in the entrance to the barn with a number of young boys around them. About a half dozen women and young girls were visible at the house.

As the deputies approached, the Amish stepped forward.

“You know why we’re here. It’s

10 o’clock and you know what we’re going to do,” Deputy Jake Kehn said as he approached the group with a court order in his hand.

The Amish seemed puzzled by the action.

“We can’t understand how anybody has the right to come in and do this to us,” said a Amish man who did not identify himself. “We just can’t understand. We want to understand what is going on.”

There were no angry voices, nor was a single hand raised, as the Amish watched as the locks were put in place.

John Miller and Swartzentruver helped the deputies locate the doors – especially at the barns, which have a number of entrances.

About a dozen padlocks were placed on the house, barn and sheds at the Miller property.

The Millers and Swartzentruvers are members of the ultraconservative Swartzentruver sect, which shuns all modern conveniences including electricity. They wear dark clothing and travel by horse and buggy.

Both families recently have constructed new houses in the “traditional Amish architecture,” Swartzentruver said.

When they applied to the townships for building permits, they were told of the sewage regulations. But the families built the outhouses following what they say are traditional methods.

They argue that the county’s regulations infringe on their First Amendment right to freedom of religion. They say that to bring the properties into compliance would be against their religious beliefs.

The judge and sewage enforcement officers contend that this a public health issue.

The outhouses do not have approved waste-catch tanks, and officials also are concerned about the Amish practice of spreading raw sewage on fields as fertilizer.

After touring one of the properties last year, Krumenacker said the outhouses could be brought into compliance by adding lime to the waste and by storing waste material in an approved concrete tank and testing it before placing it on the fields.

Miller said there are Swartzentruver Amish families across Pennsylvania and in Ohio and New York who use the traditional outhouse methods, and they are not being prosecuted.

Concern about the welfare of the cattle and horses in both barns prompted the deputies to contact the courthouse and get permission to delay locking the barns until 1 p.m. today.

It was not clear what action would be taken if the livestock is not removed by this second deadline.

While the evictions are for the premises, indications are the families will be allowed to come onto the properties and care for animals that are kept in pastures.

Before the padlocks were installed at the Swartzentruver farm, a corn planter, horse-drawn plow and smaller equipment were pulled out of a shed.

Sara Rose, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, on Monday said the case is an example of the 21st century impacting with the 18th century.

Pennsylvania has a religions freedom protection act, and county leaders have to show that they have a compelling interest in enforcing the law, she said.

Krumenacker’s order is that the padlocks remain in place until the outhouses are brought into compliance. The Amish indicated that will not happen anytime soon.

Willie Kelly of Northern Cambria, a friend of the Amish for about a decade, was clearly angry when he came to the Miller farm as the padlocks were going on.

“They’re not a bother to anyone,” he said, adding that he believes there are times when rules need to be relaxed.

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