Chris Kelly: A Big Story Getting Too Little Attention.

Chris Kelly had another opinion piece in today’s paper about the lack of coverage of the proposed Landfill Expansion. We thank him for bringing to light the fact that outside of the Scranton Times and Corbett’s WILK radio show, there has been very little coverage of the story.

Our fight and our focus is stopping the LANDFILL’s expansion. We will fight the zoning. We will voice our opposition to the DEP and fight the permit. We will continue to put pressure on elected officials. Please stand with us. Voice your opposition. Donate to our legal fund. And in the coming weeks, come out to our first organized FOL meeting. We must stand together if we have any chance of quashing this expansion.

Friends of Lackawanna continues to try to bring greater media attention to the egregious landfill expansion. Next week we should have some exciting news to share about an interview we had with a local affiliate of a national TV station.

Chris Kelly: A Big Story Getting Too Little Attention.

Speaking truth to Louis DeNaples’ power is a lonely proposition.

He owns Keystone Sanitary Landfill, Mount Airy Casino and damn near everything else he surveys. “Uncle Louie” has countless friends. They are outnumbered only by those who fear becoming his enemies. No one smothers criticism more effectively than Mr. DeNaples.

Ask Matt Birkbeck, an investigative journalist and author of “The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino.” Matt was a reporter for The Morning Call of Allentown and has written several books. People claim to revere investigative journalists, but Matt found himself unwelcome here.

His book, based on years of dogged reporting and exhaustive research, was extremely popular in regional bookstores and libraries. “The Quiet Don” has been among the most popular in the Lackawanna County Library System since its release, which is likely why the library system booked Matt for its lecture series last summer.

It paid him $1,500 but canceled his appearance. The official explanation was fear that he wouldn’t draw a large crowd, but many — including Matt and me — believed the cancellation was due to pressure from Mr. DeNaples, whose business practices are scrutinized in the book.

Like Charles Brandt’s “I Heard You Paint Houses,” Matt’s book contends that the late Mr. Bufalino, of Kingston, was one of the most powerful Mafia bosses in America and may have ordered the assassination of former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa.

The book also addresses the process by which Mr. DeNaples obtained a casino license.

Matt made other well-attended appearances. He drew a large audience at Marywood University, but not without incident.

“Someone called in a fire alarm to a room that did not exist,” Matt told me when I called him Monday. A planned appearance on WVIA-TV’s “State of Pennsylvania” was also canceled. The public television station called it a “budgetary decision.”

Matt has been very supportive of The Times-Tribune’s coverage of the proposed mammoth expansion at Keystone Sanitary Landfill and was surprised when I told him other media outlets have largely ignored the biggest environmental and economic story the region has generated since the Anthracite Age.

“Wow!” he said. “That’s outrageous.”

I thought so, too, and set out to find out why. Word on the street is that Mount Airy threatened to pull advertising from TV and radio stations that pursued the story. The word on the street is most often hooey, so I called the news directors of WNEP, WBRE and the general manager of WILK News Radio.

All vehemently denied any pressure to lay off the story.

Jim DePury, news director at WBRE, called the landfill expansion story “important.” He acknowledged that his station hasn’t spent much time or resources covering it, but, like WNEP News Director Carl Abraham, he pointed out that the local TV market spans 17 counties, which Mr. DePury called “the largest broadcast market east of the Mississippi.” TV stations must prioritize stories to attract viewers. Snowstorms, car crashes and house fires happen everywhere.

Fair enough, but no snowstorm, car crash or house fire unfolds over half a century, as Mount Trashmore would. There is no more important news story facing this region. It’s odd that it isn’t getting more attention from media outlets other than The Times-Tribune.

WILK GM Ryan Flynn pointed out that Matt Birkbeck was a guest on the station when “The Quiet Don” first came out, and that landfill expansion opponents Friends of Lackawanna were also guests. The issue simply hasn’t generated listener calls, the lifeblood of talk radio.

While it can be “very lonely” pursuing a story like this, Matt urged me not to be discouraged. The Times-Tribune’s coverage, and the public response, means “people are coming to their senses,” he said.

Mount Trashmore threatens to be huge, but we’ve got it covered.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, is reading “The Quiet Don” and thinks you should, too.

SENATOR BLAKE CLARIFIES LANDILL POSITION

Senator Blake Clarifies Landfill Position

Excerpts:
State Sen. John Blake said Friday he does not want Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s expansion to happen as proposed, but it would be inappropriate for him to use his role as a state lawmaker to influence a regulatory agency’s review process.

“I want to make it very clear that I am not satisfied that the proposed landfill expansion is necessary or appropriate at the scale suggested by the application,” said Mr. Blake, citing aesthetic reasons; he worries it would hurt the region’s image and has public health and safety concerns

He was also interested in reviewing rules governing conflicts of interest after The Times-Tribune reported the nephew of Keystone owners Louis and Dominick DeNaples was part of the team that conducted a required mining subsidence study.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/sen-blake-clarifies-landfill-position-1.1798432

MID VALLEY WANTS NO PIECE OF LANDFILL PIE

Front page story in the Scranton Times this morning: Mid Valley wants no piece of landfill pie

Excerpts:
But district directors agree that money from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill is no cure for their financial ills.

“At the bottom line, I personally don’t want to be looking out my window and seeing something of that nature,” school director Mary Ruth Tanner said. “All the money in the world can’t buy health.”

Last month, the Mid Valley board unanimously agreed to oppose a proposed expansion plan at Keystone, which sits less than a mile away from the district.

Part of their unity stems from the fact that Eddy Creek originates near the landfill and passes through district property. An accident upstream could potentially deliver toxins to the district’s doorstep via the stream they hope to use one day for science classes, Mr. Macknosky said.

School director Donna Dixon said considering Mid Valley’s annual operating budget climbs to around $22 million, “$100,000 to me is a drop in the bucket. That’s my opinion,” she said.

“This is not about us trying to get money,” he said. “No amount of money would offset the risks to the kids.”

School director Joanne Pesota likened running the district to running a business.

“We were all in agreement that this would be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the students, the faculty and staff of Mid Valley, and we just feel it would not be a cost that we’re not willing (to pay),” Ms. Pesota said. “We’re just making good business decisions that are ethical.”

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/mid-valley-wants-no-piece-of-landfill-pie-1.1798093

KEYSTONE LANDFILL HIKES SCRANTONS DISPOSAL CHARGE TO OFFSET HIGHER HOST FEEL LANDFILL PAYS

This is not just a Dunmore/Throop issue. It is a regional issue that will impact us all - either financially or environmentally… but more likely, both.

We encourage you to stand with us in our fight to stop the Landfill’s Phase Three Expansion.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/keystone-landfill-hikes-scranton-s-disposal-charge-to-offset-higher-host-fees-landfill-pays-1.1797393

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Another great letter to the editor.

New culm dump

Editor: It is a sad irony that our valley may have a new culm bank, much like those that arose at the turn of the 20th century and scarred our peaceful valley for generations.

Some old culm dumps still remain, as in Dickson City and the Carbondale area. The creation of culm banks from the coal days was the price paid to bring needed energy to a growing nation.

However, this new culm bank is not the requisite residue of an essential industry.

This new culm bank is a mountain of vile and foul refuse generated by others who do not live or work here and dump in our backyard for all to see from many miles away.

In our valley a century ago, coal was king. Today, garbage is king.

I doubt that the proposed expansion plan at Keystone Sanitary Landfill will be rejected, for the same reasons that the coal barons scarred the landscape and walked away. That is because they could.

EUGENE M. OGOZALEK

SCRANTON

http://m.thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor-12-01-2014-1.1795513?ppRandom=0.7520034905953811&pp_u=d2Y2E5svrSFkJI_YcLdWir

KELLY'S WORLD: PROFILES IN COWARDICE

Thank you, Chris Kelly. Mount Trashmore should not be our lasting legacy.

“Mount Trashmore would rise in Dunmore and Throop over a half-century to a height three times the size of the national monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The faces best suited to adorn its filthy facade have selected themselves. They will be dead long before the mammoth monument to their weakness reaches its sorry summit.”

http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/editorials-columns/christopher-j-kelly/chris-kelly-profiles-in-cowardice-1.1795361

Mid Valley wants no piece of landfill pie

Front page story in the Scranton Times this morning: Mid Valley wants no piece of landfill pie

Excerpts:
But district directors agree that money from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill is no cure for their financial ills.
 
“At the bottom line, I personally don’t want to be looking out my window and seeing something of that nature,” school director Mary Ruth Tanner said. “All the money in the world can’t buy health.”

Last month, the Mid Valley board unanimously agreed to oppose a proposed expansion plan at Keystone, which sits less than a mile away from the district.

Part of their unity stems from the fact that Eddy Creek originates near the landfill and passes through district property. An accident upstream could potentially deliver toxins to the district’s doorstep via the stream they hope to use one day for science classes, Mr. Macknosky said.

School director Donna Dixon said considering Mid Valley’s annual operating budget climbs to around $22 million, “$100,000 to me is a drop in the bucket. That’s my opinion,” she said.

“This is not about us trying to get money,” he said. “No amount of money would offset the risks to the kids.”
 
School director Joanne Pesota likened running the district to running a business.
 
“We were all in agreement that this would be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the students, the faculty and staff of Mid Valley, and we just feel it would not be a cost that we’re not willing (to pay),” Ms. Pesota said. “We’re just making good business decisions that are ethical.”


KSL Finds a Way to Pass The Buck

Keystone landfill hikes Scranton’s disposal charge to offset higher host fees landfill pays - Headline from today’s Scranton Times.

Excerpts:

Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore told Scranton its trash disposal tipping fee will go up 80 cents per ton starting Jan. 1, because of “increased host fees” the landfill will be paying.

An 80-cent spike will cost Scranton around an extra $20,000 next year to dispose of garbage at Keystone, said Scranton Business Administrator David Bulzoni.

“This increase is a result of increased host fees that Keystone will be required to pay,” states the letter from Keystone’s Business Manager Dan O’Brien.

The letter was mailed four days after Dunmore Borough Council on Nov. 24 approved a pact with Keystone landfill that will nearly triple the host municipality fee the landfill pays to Dunmore. That pact, a $15.63 million agreement, could turn into a $191.7 million agreement over nearly 50 years if the state approves a large scale expansion the landfill wants.

DUMP GROWS; POLITICAL VISION WITHERS

Silence is consent.

Excerpts:

Out on the stump, when they’re trying to impress voters, local politicians never suggest that their love of Northeast Pennsylvania, or their willingness to go the last mile to promote and protect it, is limited by the narrow scope of their offices.

But when a massive garbage dump with politically influential owners wants the state government to approve an expansion that will bring more than 100 million more tons of out-of-state garbage to one of the most visible and heavily traveled areas of Lackawanna County, most of those politicians head to their bunkers rather than mount the bully pulpit.

Vision, not just compliance, is the issue

This issue isn’t about mere landfill operations. It’s about a vision for the future. It’s stunning that no one in the local legislative delegation other than Rep. Mike Carroll, of Avoca, recognizes that the perpetual expansion of gigantic garbage dumps, no matter how well they comply with regulations, is not in the area’s interest.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/dump-grows-political-vision-withers-1.1793530

DUNMORE TRASH PACT WORST IN COUNTY

Today the Times-Tribune reports that the Dunmore host municipality agreement is the worst in the County. We believe it extends far further than that–maybe even the Country. Dunmore Council did NOT have to rush to pass this agreement.

Excerpts:
That conflict might explain why, despite firm public pressure to fight for a better deal, Dunmore council approved the most unfavorable landfill host agreement in Lackawanna County. The only worse agreement was the borough’s old version from 1999.

Council members and attorney Bill Jones have said landfill owner Louis DeNaples significantly limited the terms of the agreement and wouldn’t allow outside experts to negotiate on the borough’s behalf.

Some members of the public addressed this Monday night.

“I just ask you whether you’re in a position, these seven people up here, to sign an agreement with no environmental guidance,” Dunmore resident and Friends of Lackawanna core member Pat Clark said before the vote.

The public didn’t have much time to review the agreement. Dunmore officials posted the newest version about three days before the vote, resident Jack McGrath said at the meeting.

“Somebody’s putting pressure on this council, and they’re not here tonight,” he said.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/dunmore-trash-pact-worst-in-county-1.1793802

DUNMORE APPROVES KEYSTONE LANDFILL AGREEMENT

Short term economic gain traded for long term economic loss. No environmental protection. No protection from liability for catastrophic disaster (landfill fire, landslide, subsidence, leaking). An agreement rushed for absolutely no reason at all despite the pleas of their constituents to take the time to demand a better agreement and despite offers from citizens who practice law to help them craft it pro bono. This was democracy at its worst and the effect of power, money and influence at its best. Dunmore Council, with the brave exception of Tim Burke, has signed their names to a shameful agreement. This travesty is their tragic legacy. They should apologize to all of your children…and their children…and their children…ad infinitum for bootstrapping them with an irresponsible, pathetic agreement that never ends. That is, if any of our children choose to stay in Dunmore or the area, which is doubtful if this expansion happens. What a tax base we would have then!

Friends, we must fight harder now more than ever. Please continue to write the DEP and your legislators to let them know where we stand and that we demand they represent us. Please write letters to the editor and support Friends of Lackawanna. We will not let this deter our efforts to get DEP to deny Phase 3. Let’s let this inspire us to action! Enough! Dunmore Council’s disregard for the People was as disgusting as the landfill itself. Enough! How long will we allow power, money and influence to infect our democracy and corrupt our system? Enough! We must let DEP know that there are no benefits that can outweigh the harms of radioactive fracking waste to our health, safety and welfare or the degradation to the image of our community when it is known for a mountain of trash. Enough! It is time to stand up and be counted or sit it out and be dumped on forever!

http://m.thetimes-tribune.com/news/dunmore-approves-keystone-landfill-agreement-1.1793005

MID VALLEY SCHOOL BOARD AGAINST LANDFILL EXPANSION

Members of the Mid Valley School Board do not support the Keystone Sanitary Landfill Inc.’s application to expand skyward. Way to go, Mid Valley! We agree with you whole-heartedly.

Excerpt:
“We’re charged with the protection of children,” Mr. Macknosky said. “It’s our responsibility to make them safe.”

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/mid-valley-school-board-against-landfill-expansion-1.1790932

OUTATIME

Chris Kelly brings it home once again in his column, Kelly’s World, with his outstanding coverage and analysis of the Dunmore Council meeting that took place on Thursday night.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Excerpt:
The borough’s relationship with Keystone can fairly be called abusive. The guarantee-free 1999 agreement that spawned the landfill’s previous expansion is a travesty. If the state didn’t mandate a minimum host fee of 41 cents per ton of garbage dumped, Keystone could legally pay Dunmore nothing. This immoral agreement remains in effect today.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/chris-kelly-outatime-1.1788796