An excellent editorial in today's The Times Tribune. Will the DEP, which is designed to protect the citizens of the State, ignore the elected representatives and bodies who continue to oppose this expansion?

https://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/let-them-sue-1.2638144

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Let them sue

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD / PUBLISHED: JUNE 14, 2020

The Keystone Sanitary Landfill apparently brims not only with millions of tons of out-of-state garbage, but with hubris.

According to Dunmore borough solicitor Michael P. Perry, landfill officials have threatened to sue the government if borough council follows through on its plan to send a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection opposing the company’s massive expansion plan.

Council voted unanimously May 11 to send a letter to the DEP detailing its public health concerns regarding millions of tons of garbage already in the landfill and nearly a hundred million more tons that it would bury over the next 42-plus years.

The landfill covers parts of Dunmore and Throop, but final authority to permit the expansion lies with the state environmental regulator.

Damage from such a massive expansion will not be limited to Dunmore and Throop. The landfill already is a blight on the interchanges of Interstate Routes 81, 380 and 84, offering thousands of daily travelers exactly the wrong image of Lackawanna County and Northeast Pennsylvania.

The DEP itself somehow has failed to detect odors wafting from the landfill into neighborhoods, diminishing the quality of life for many residents. Adding another 90 million-plus tons of garbage to the landfill isn’t going to make it smell any better.

Scranton City Council also voted unanimously in May to send a letter to the DEP opposing the unwarranted expansion.

Formal opposition should not stop there. Every governing body in Lackawanna County, including the county board of commissioners and all 10 school districts, formally should oppose the expansion and advise the DEP of it. All regional members of the General Assembly and Congress also should weigh in against the expansion.

This isn’t simply about technical compliance with the DEP’s standards. That is the bare minimum requirement. The expansion won’t be good for the region even if Keystone or its successor perfectly operates the landfill.

It’s time for all local governments and public officials to make common cause against the further degradation of Northeast Pennsylvania.