FOL participates on Environmental Justice Call

Earlier this week, some members of FOL participated in a virtual Environmental Justice Roundtable hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

It was an engaged session and we shared our experience in working with the PA Environmental Justice processes over the past 6 years.

Though we admire the aspirations and goals of any Environmental Justice initiative we think there is so much more that can be done immediately in this area using a combination of regulations, technology, data and common sense.

The Landfill expansion is a perfect use case for how things need to change on the EJ front - how much burden should any one community bear? That is, at its essence, what environmental justice is about.

We hope that the State, and the decision makers involved with EJ, start to allow EJ concerns to be not only heard but acted upon.

If any of our Friends have any questions on EJ, let us know. We're still at it...

#EnvironmentalJustice

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Editorial: Dump expansion inherently deficient

Today's editorial in the The Scranton Times-Tribune is in lock-step with our conclusions on the recent DEP deficiency letter issued to the landfill. If it wasn't clear from Day 1, at this point is unavoidable - the entire project is deficient. Check out the editorial here.

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Dump expansion inherently deficient

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

State regulators have told the Keystone Sanitary Landfill to correct dozens of deficiencies in its application for a 42-year expansion beginning in 2022. But for Northeast Pennsylvania, the expansion is more broadly deficient and should not be allowed to proceed.

Keystone, in Dunmore and Throop, plans to accept another 92,072,940 tons of garbage at the sprawling landfill through 2064, more than 184 billion pounds, the vast majority of it from other states.

In its 10-page letter citing 60 deficiencies, the state Department of Environmental Protection required additional information, revisions or clarifications regarding major aspects of Keystone’s plan, including groundwater protection, odor control, liquid drainage known as leachate, and its eventual closure plan.

According to the DEP, for example, the landfill projects leachate generation of 13.6 million gallons a year, even though it has produced more than four times that amount in recent years.

The DEP previously had determined, in a required analysis, that the expansion would produce more benefits than harms for the surrounding areas. But the benefits it cited were primarily economic — including, remarkably, legally required host municipality fees that the landfill would pay to Dunmore and Throop to mitigate the burden that it places on them. The analysis acknowledged potential environmental degradation inherent in such a project, but said that the landfill would mitigate them.

Some of that mitigation, however, is supposed to be fleshed out in details of the expansion plan, within which the DEP now finds sweeping deficiencies.

The scope of this expansion plan is such that even if the landfill were to be operated perfectly 100% of the time, without any unforeseen problems, it still would constitute a massive harm to the quality of life in Northeast Pennsylvania.

State regulators should make the deficiency letter the first step in permanently pulling the plug on the expansion.

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https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_0fa08b16.../

5th Deficiency Letter Sent to KSL

The DEP recently issued its 5th deficiency letter to KSL during this expansion evaluation period. This entry is a 10 page letter, listing over 60 deficiencies, and is linked to below for anyone looking for some light weekend reading. The Scranton Times also had a detailed article on it (see our page for more details and a link to the story).

The listed items aren't small - they are big ticket items: underestimated leachate generation and treatment, unresolved groundwater contamination, a consistent minimization of closure related items, and more.

Every project will have some back and forth between those seeking approval and those with the power to allow or deny it. But after six years of paperwork, plans and prodding these issues still are not even almost ironed out. How can DEP grant an expansion when these issues remain open, unclear, and evidently unsolvable?

http://files.dep.state.pa.us/.../KSL_8Sept2020_first...

DEP finds more than 5 dozen deficiencies in landfill's expansion application

“After six years, the only thing growing faster than the heap of garbage is the list of reasons to deny it.” —Patrick Clark, Friends of Lackawanna

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_af66eb90...

Excerpts:

The state Department of Environmental Protection notified the Keystone Sanitary Landfill this week of more than five dozen technical deficiencies in its 42-year expansion application.

The DEP’s letter cited deficiencies in a variety of areas, including the landfill’s contingency plan, facility plan, eventual closure plan, groundwater, odor control and leachate generation.

The deficiency letter, signed by David F. Matcho, the environmental engineer manager in the DEP’s Waste Management Program, noted a substantial underestimation in Keystone’s projected leachate generation. Leachate is the liquid that percolates through piles of trash.

Keystone estimated it would generate nearly 13.6 million gallons of leachate annually. However, from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, it generated almost 73.2 million gallons, according to the deficiency letter. From July 1, 2019, to June 30, with data missing from November and April, the landfill generated about 55.5 million gallons, Matcho wrote.

Pat Clark, a leader of anti-landfill expansion grassroots group Friends of Lackawanna, noted that Tuesday’s letter is Keystone’s fifth deficiency letter from the DEP.

“At some point, it becomes clear that these items are not fixable,” he said in an email. “This deficiency letter, almost exactly six years after the expansion proposal was submitted, is still 10 dense pages filled with 60 items.”

“How can DEP grant an expansion when these issues remain open, unclear and evidently unsolvable?” he said. “DEP is going to have to make a decision on this expansion soon. And after six years, the only thing growing faster than the heap of garbage is the list of reasons to deny it.”

FOL's Letter to PaDEP regarding Technical Review

This is the letter that we sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as part of the Technical Review comment period. We have sent the DEP many, many, many pages since we began this journey with you all. And as you will see in the below, we remain as convinced as ever that allowing this expansion would directly contradict and ignore the facts, the history, DEP's mission and the PA Constitution. There's only one conclusion the DEP can rationally reach -- to deny the expansion. We look forward to their decision.

We could not continue to do this work without your support and we are forever thankful for it.

Scranton School District Letter of Opposition

Thank you Scranton School District School Board Members for taking the time to submit your comments to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Your concern for your students and their future is admirable. We are disappointed that the Dunmore School District Board Members will not be a voice for their students.

Excerpt: “Most importantly, consider the implications to our young students. It is they who will bear the consequences of the decisions we make today. Consequently, we urge you to deny the expansion application sought by KSL and to afford this community and all surrounding communities the constitutional rights that they have to live here unfettered by a private industries’ toxic waste.”

LTE: August 9, 2020

Wise words from a 14-year-old Dunmorean: “I urge people to seriously consider that ignoring this issue will cause massive problems in the future. Fight against this and protest. I love where I live and if the landfill continues to expand I’m afraid quite a few people will move away.” This young student also questions the elected leaders who have remained silent. For anyone who feels the same way, attend the next Dunmore School Board meeting and ask them directly why they will not advocate for the health of the students in their district.

Editor:

I am 14 and I have concerns about the expansion of Keystone Sanitary Landfill.

It breaches a number of health and environmental concerns. First, studies show that living within a certain radius of a landfill increases risk of cancer. The International Journal of Epidemiology says, “Respiratory symptoms were detected among residents living close to waste sites. These were linked to inhalation exposure to endotoxin, microorganisms, and aerosols from waste collection and land filling.”

That does not sound good. As we already live so close to a large landfill, imagine what an enlarged one could do to health.

Second, consider the environment. Expanding the landfill would do more damage to the environment than can be accounted for. According to Environment Victoria, an Australian environmental organization: “When organic material such as food scraps and green waste is put into a landfill, it is generally compacted and covered which removes all oxygen and causes it to break down in an anaerobic process. Over time, this releases methane ... a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide! The implications for global warming and climate change are enormous.”

Landfills release toxins and leachate, which cause problems for us and for future generations.

My question is, where is everyone? Where are the elected officials and every politician that have the power to stand against this? They do not stand with us because it would not be the easy way out.

A simple sign in your front yard will not prevent the deterioration of our health and environment, So I urge people to seriously consider that ignoring this issue will cause massive problems in the future. Fight against this and protest. I love where I live and if the landfill continues to expand I’m afraid quite a few people will move away.

HANNAH MURPHY

DUNMORE

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_48f5ff1c...

Mid Valley School District Board of Director's Letter of Opposition

Thank you Mid Valley School District Board of Directors for your powerful letter to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (and Governor Tom Wolf).

How right you are when you say that “As a governing body charged with protecting the safety and welfare of our students and faculty, we have an obligation to monitor any increased threats posed by outside forces” and “That protection is more vital when the risks affect our children.” We wish the Dunmore School District School Board of Directors shared your courage. We are greatly disappointed that after statements they would send a letter to the DEP, on behalf of the students in their district, they opted to remain silent.

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LTE - July 26, 2020

This incredibly impactful Letter to the Editor by Gene Katapski points out that contaminants from the landfill are not contained within the landfill. Hard to attract new businesses to the Keystone Industrial Park when this is what employees have to endure.

Landfill’s effects

Editor:

Face coverings due to COVID-19 are old news for employees who work in the Keystone Industrial Park, some 2,500 feet from Keystone Sanitary Landfill. Their walk from a vehicle to their place of employment can be quite nauseating at times.

On days when the stench is particularly noticeable, landfill officials attempt to mask the smell by spraying industrial-strength deodorizer via tanker trucks. This liquid deodorizer then becomes airborne, travels and settles on surfaces. Employees in the industrial park making the trek to their vehicle must clean eyeglasses and windshields for clear vision.

Is this not positive proof that contaminants from the landfill are not contained within landfill boundaries? How far do airborne particles, too small to see but still breathable, travel? Do these contaminants settle on water supplies and home gardens and become consumed? For reference, the drinking water at Dunmore Reservoir No. 1 is only 800 feet from the landfill.

It is obvious that not only should Keystone’s expansion request be denied, but the landfill should be capped as soon as possible.

GENE KATAPSKI

MOUNT COBB

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_1ab783c5...

Scranton Council Letter of Opposition

Another recap letter to thank all of the Scranton Council members, Bill Gaughan,

Kyle Donahue

Jessica Ann Rothchild

Tom Schuster

and

Mark McAndrew

for their strong letter of opposition to the expansion. Staying true to their oath and standing up for their citizens. Thank you for reminding everyone that the landfill has no borders, it does affect Scranton residents and it is a regional issue.

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