KSL wants permission to discharge up to 200,000 gallons of treated leachate (garbage juice) PER DAY into Little Roaring Brook, a Lackawanna River tributary.
What do you think about this?
From our viewpoint: this Landfill has had non-stop leachate management issues for years. From everything we can tell, they can't treat, or contain, the leachate on site. So now the DEP is considering allowing them to simply send it directly into our waterways? This is nuts.
For years, we've said "enough is enough" when it comes to this landfill. From the landfill's perspective, the past 8 years have taught us that "enough is never enough". They will always want more. And then some.
********************
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_4232baa6...
Throop, Dunmore officials asked for input on landfill's creek discharge proposal
BY FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY STAFF WRITER Aug 2, 2022
The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking input from Dunmore and Throop on an application for the Keystone Sanitary Landfill to discharge up to 200,000 gallons of treated leachate per day into a Lackawanna River tributary.
The DEP is reviewing a major permit modification application to change the leachate management plan at the landfill in Dunmore and Throop owned by Louis and Dominick DeNaples. Under the modified plan, the landfill would treat its leachate to a higher degree on site and empty it directly into Little Roaring Brook just off of East Drinker Street, according to the landfill's Feb. 18 application. The landfill currently pretreats its leachate and pipes it to Pennsylvania American Water's Scranton wastewater treatment plant.
Last year, the DEP approved the landfill's massive Phase III expansion, which gave it the capacity to add 188 billion pounds of additional garbage through 2060, tripling its total volume of waste.
In a letter dated July 28 to Dunmore and Throop boroughs, which DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly provided Tuesday, the DEP informed town officials they have 60 days from the receipt of the letter to provide recommendations on the application. It is part of a lengthy review process, Connolly said, explaining reviews typically include public comment periods.
The landfill initially sought to discharge treated leachate into both Eddy Creek and Little Roaring Brook in December 2019 but later removed Eddy Creek.
Keystone would treat its leachate using a process known as reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis pushes the leachate under high pressure through a membrane that extracts contaminants, landfill consultant Al Magnotta said. The decision to seek the alternative means of discharging is mostly an economic issue, Magnotta said. The landfill has the responsibility to treat its leachate for "many, many years" even after it closes, he said. It comes down to trying to balance the annual cost of paying Pennsylvania American Water over the long term with the capital equipment to discharge leachate to the creek, he said.
The landfill will have the option to go back and forth between the water company and Little Roaring Brook, Magnotta said, pointing to the much stricter standards for discharging into the creek. If approved, Magnotta expects to continue using the water company as well.
They have two reverse-osmosis systems in place with a third system ordered that they plan to have operational this year, he said.
Bernie McGurl, executive director of the Lackawanna River Conservation Association, acknowledged that reverse osmosis produces "pretty clean water," but noted the importance of monitoring the discharge. McGurl would have preferred the treated water going into Eddy Creek to help with habitat restoration, but in its current state, the creek would not be able to receive the water because portions of it were obliterated by coal mining.
The treatment technology is almost adequate to produce drinking water, but because of where it originates, McGurl said he doesn't believe it's a good source to create drinking water.
"It's an industrial process. It's dependent on technology," he said. "If there's any amount of breakdown in the technology and it doesn't meet its effluent standards, that's not a good thing."
The landfill has several failsafe alternatives if they realized there's a problem and needed to divert the discharge, McGurl said.
"They're going to need to keep an eye on it," he said. "If they don't, I'm sure DEP will be knocking on their door, as well as I and lots of fishermen."
To submit public comment to the DEP, email Connolly at coconnolly@pa.gov.
**********