EBENSBURG — The long-simmering dispute between an ultraconservative Amish sect and sewage enforcement agencies is back in Cambria County court even as a new attorney for the Amish is trying to find a way to resolve the issues.
Currently at issue is whether two couples from the Swartzentruber sect should be held in contempt of court
– and possibly jailed as punishment
– for moving back into their homes, which had been padlocked by sheriff’s deputies in May on orders from Judge Norman Krumenacker.
The judge was to have held a hearing Tuesday morning on whether Joely and Mary Swartzentruber of Barr Township and John and Susan Miller of Blacklick Township should be held in contempt. They and other members of the sect, which shuns modern conveniences, refuse to meet sewage disposal requirements for their outhouses, although they did make some improvements.
County sewage enforcement officials determined that the padlocks on the two houses were removed and the premises were occupied on Nov. 19.
The couples subsequently moved out again – reportedly after receiving notices of the hearing – and the houses were again locked.
Krumenacker on Tuesday agreed to continue the hearing until an unspecified date at the request of Altoona attorney Thomas Dickey, who has been retained by the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom to represent the sect members.
The committee, according to its Web site, was founded in 1967 at the University of Chicago to preserve the religious liberty of the Old Order Amish and related groups.
It’s made up of non-Amish members, including lawyers, clergymen and others of many religious faiths, the Web site says.
The Swartzentruber sect, whose members began moving into Cambria County more than a decade ago, first caught the attention of sewage enforcement officials two years ago when complaints were received about two outhouses at the sect’s schoolhouse in Barr Township. Andy Swartzentruber went to jail for 90 days rather than pay fines after being convicted on minor charges of failing to meet sewage disposal regulations.
The school was padlocked in March, and about 20 Amish children have not received any education since then.
Dickey said that he plans to meet with elders of the sect, including the bishop, after Christmas to try to find a way to settle the issues.
“I welcome the opportunity to try to be a go-between the state and its regulations and these people who want to exercise their religious freedom,” Dickey said.
Krumenacker has been unsuccessful in past attempts to reach a compromise.
Attorney William Barbin, who represents both the county sewage enforcement agency and the county building code enforcement agency, did not object to postponing the hearing.
“It’s certainly better to try to resolve the issues rather than being as harsh as possible,” Barbin said.
When Dickey asked the judge about opening the school for classes, Krumenacker said that could be done only if the sect obtains a state Department of Environmental Protection permit and then follows regulations that would enable them to dump the treated waste on their fields.
The regulations include keeping records of the treatments and testing acid levels of the soil, Barbin said.
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