Big decisions ahead. Please plan on attending the Public Hearing. We will let you know as soon as there is a date.

Excerpts:
A state regulator’s environmental assessment of Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s controversial expansion plan is nearing the finish line.

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s waste management program staff are on track to issue a review letter with a preliminary conclusion around the end of this month, agency spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said Thursday.

DEP typically gives applicants between 30 and 60 days to respond, depending on the number of issues the agency raises, and if necessary, the response would trigger an approximately 75-day second review — although the timeline could still be adjusted if needed.

“We will be as thorough as possible and take as much time as we need to make this decision,” Ms. Connolly said.

DEP will schedule a public hearing during the second part of the review, during which area residents can provide testimony for the agency to consider. The previous two public meetings earlier this year were designed more to answer people’s questions.

At last month’s meeting, regional waste management program manager Roger Bellas told the public the agency has been looking into concerns raised at the prior meeting in February.

Topics included leachate treatment and conveyance lines to Scranton Sewer Authority, storm water discharge to Eddy Creek, air quality, odors and questions about Marcellus Shale waste disposal.