Another excellent letter today in The Scranton Times-Tribune. Excerpt: If this landfill expansion happens, it will have chilling effect on businesses and job opportunities in Lackawanna County for generations to come.
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_6348ec74...
DETRIMENT OBVIOUS
Editor: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources’ harms-versus-benefits conclusion regarding Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s expansion plan seems to place a higher value on monetary benefits than the surrounding area’s quality of life.
Consider DEP’s view using money as the primary deciding factor.
A primary purpose of the $450 million Casey Highway development was to open the mid- and upper-valley area to business development. The Scranton-Lackawanna Industrial Building Co. used the highway’s access to create the Valley View Business Park and the Jessup Small Business Center. This involved building roads and installing utilities. The tools were there to create a successful business environment. Developers built prime facilities that would accommodate production, offices or warehousing. But something happened to change the view of investing in the area. Keystone Sanitary Landfill announced its intention to expand for approximately 42 years.
I see 17 vacant or underutilized buildings within a 4-mile radius of the landfill, with an average size of 213,487 square feet. Some are state-of-the-art facilities that normally would have tenants before construction was complete. Why are these potential businesses and the associated jobs not fulfilled in these in prime locations?
As a former business manager located in the shadow of the landfill, I can feel the pain as Realtors or developers take potential clients to sites and drive almost within touching distance of this massive, smelly pile of trash. If you were an investor or business manager would you choose this location? If you managed a business there and the lease was about to expire on your location, would you want to renew that lease?
Several excellent employers have moved into the area but the true potential is not being reached. If this landfill expansion happens, it will have chilling effect on businesses and job opportunities in Lackawanna County for generations to come.
GENE KATAPSKI
MOUNT COBB