Remember those accusations that Friends of Lackawanna were fear mongers with a "personal vendetta"? Well, turns out our predictions were right on the money. The DEP notified KSL that methane emissions have worsened, despite mitigation efforts. This acknowledgement by the DEP validates our claims and underscores the urgency of addressing these environmental issues.
From the Scranton Times
After a wave of recent complaints, the state Department of Environmental Protection admonished the Keystone Sanitary Landfill this week for not effectively controlling its odors.
The DEP received “well over 100 odor complaints” related to the landfill over the past month and a half, according to a letter sent Monday to the landfill from Roger Bellas, the DEP waste management program’s manager. Although the DEP did not identify a stench with the complaints, department staff regularly smelled landfill-related odors beyond Keystone’s property.
“KSL should immediately consider additional mitigation measures to minimize offsite odors, as it is apparent to DEP that KSL’s current mitigation measures have not been effective,” Bellas wrote.
By addressing odors that were observed by DEP staff but not directly tied to complaints, the department circumvents a longtime criticism of its odor-reporting process. To report odors, residents call a department hotline, and the DEP sends an inspector to confirm the odor. By the time the DEP inspector arrived, the odors had often dissipated.
“While DEP’s response to these complaints has not resulted in the identification of a malodor with the complainants, DEP staff have regularly observed landfill related odors off KSL’s property,” Bellas wrote. “Specifically, strong landfill gas odors have been observed along Marshwood Road, the Casey Highway, and Interstate 81.”
Enhanced surface monitoring results from July through October indicate surface methane emissions have become “progressively worse” at the Louis and Dominick DeNaples-owned landfill in Dunmore and Throop, according to the DEP.
In an emailed statement, landfill consultant Al Magnotta pointed to Friends of Lackawanna, a nonprofit group formed in 2014 in opposition to the landfill and its now-approved expansion, encouraging the public to report odors as it appeals the landfill’s expansion.
Friends of Lackawanna is in the midst of appealing Keystone’s Phase III expansion before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
“Accordingly, over the last 45 days, DEP has been inundated with 100 odor complaints logged with no names and no street addresses,” Magnotta wrote. “After DEP inspections, the vast (majority) of the odor complaints were determined to be non-existent or not originated at Keystone Sanitary Landfill.”
Pointing to maximum limits on surface emissions, Magnotta said there is no representation that Keystone exceeded the figure.
In a subsequent phone interview, Magnotta said odors are subjective.
“That’s their interpretation,” he said. “Everything that we’re required to do under the permit ... is very extensive. It’s documented.”
The Keystone Sanitary Landfill is in the early stages of its Phase III expansion, which the DEP approved June 3, 2021. The expansion allows the landfill to triple its capacity over the next four decades, adding just over 94 million tons of trash, or about 188 billion pounds.
As part of its expansion approval, the landfill must monitor areas of intermediate cover monthly, evaluate the results and take mitigation measures to prevent excessive landfill gas emissions that could lead to offsite odors, according to the DEP. An intermediate cover is a 12-inch thick cover made of “natural soil material” covering locations where the landfill does not intend to place any additional garbage for six months, or where the site is at its maximum permitted height, according to the landfill’s expansion plans submitted to the DEP.
Mitigation measures include compacting clay-like soils, adjusting existing gas collection devices, constructing new gas collection devices and promptly mitigating leachate breakouts, the DEP said.
Monday’s letter is the second time this year the DEP has accused the landfill of odor issues.
In January, the agency cited Keystone for nine violations pertaining to odors after responding to 233 complaints across nine towns between Sept. 1, 2022, and Jan. 20.
DEP crews detected landfill odors at homes in Dunmore, Scranton, Throop, Jessup and Jefferson Twp. last year between Nov. 9 and Dec. 30, plus odors along Marshwood Road in Throop and the Casey Highway in Dunmore and Throop, according to the January notice of violation.
The landfill responded to the violation letter in March, contending it was not the source of the majority of those complaints.
The DEP has not yet determined any additional enforcement actions for those violations, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said.
At the conclusion of the two-page letter sent Monday, Bellas asked the landfill to submit additional information so the DEP can determine whether it complied with its nuisance minimization and control plan.
Keystone conducts and records all mandates in its permit on a daily basis and will promptly respond to the DEP’s request for information, Magnotta said.
“I don’t believe anybody else in the state has that level of effort,” he said.
Pat Clark, a leader of Friends of Lackawanna, said the odors are their fears coming to fruition.
“As this landfill gets bigger, so too do the problems,” Clark said. “Smell is the easiest one because ... it figuratively punches you in the face, but it’s just a harbinger of things to come.”
He lauded the community for logging their complaints with the DEP.
“The residents taking the time and the effort to register the complaints means it’s starting to be noticed and making a difference with DEP,” Clark said. “This file of violations and notices — and acknowledged by the department that this landfill is negatively impacting our community — continues to grow fatter by the day.”
He believes the DEP’s acknowledgement of the odors supports Friends of Lackawanna’s contentions.
“When we started this process years ago ... there was no file or record of violations or history of letters to point back to,” he said. “Well now, because there’s so much attention being paid to it, and there’s so many people calling in, they have no choice but to record them.”
If the DEP determines the landfill violated its nuisance minimization and control plan, the department has a range of options, from working with the landfill to civil penalties to suspending its permit, Connolly said.
“There’s a whole list of actions we could take, but we haven’t decided on that yet,” she said.
The landfill has until Nov. 10 to respond to the DEP’s request for information, Connolly said.