Dunmore Council - 4 seat run off

FOL does not endorse political candidates but we do help keep the public informed on where your local candidates stand on important issues. See below for the positions of candidates running for Dunmore Council and their answers to questions regarding the landfill.

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_545e45fe...

VINCE AMICO

Party: Democratic

Age: 50

Family: Wife, Celia; children, Grace, Olivia and Celia

Education: Bachelor’s degree, exercise physiology, Pennsylvania State University; state teaching certificate, technology education

Experience: Teacher, technology education, Scranton School District; small-business owner; Army veteran, Operation Iraqi Freedom; Dunmore council, 2015 to present; board member, Friends of Lackawanna; former vice president, Dunmore Missy League

Campaign website: N/A

What is the most important issue facing Dunmore and what will you do about it?

"It is tough to name the single most important issue that is facing the borough. Dunmore, as well as the other communities in Northeastern PA, are saddled with the Phase III Expansion of the Keystone Sanitary Landfill. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has granted the expansion of the landfill. It is council's responsibility to be the voice for our residents and to keep DEP aware of issues that arise from Keystone. Dunmore also faces many of the same issues that other municipalities have to deal with — increased costs of goods and services, rising health care costs, aging infrastructure, blighted properties and absentee landlords. We are in the process of updating and modernizing all of our ordinances and working with code enforcement to address problems as they arise. Since being elected council president last year, my main focus has been dealing with the day-to-day issues that arise in the borough. If elected on May 16, I would continue to do my best to help move the borough in a forward direction."

Should Dunmore heed Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendation to consider becoming home rule to lift some taxing caps, like earned income tax?

"Borough Council just received the Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendations in March. We have not yet discussed all of their recommendations, and the topic of home rule has not been considered."

Do you agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill that it was not the source of most odor complaints that prompted the state to cite the landfill earlier this year?

"No, I do not agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill. I firmly believe that they are the source of the odors that prompted the state to cite them earlier this year. The rotten egg odor that you smell while driving on the Casey Highway alongside the landfill is the same odor that residents in Dunmore and Throop have been experiencing at their homes. The Department of Environmental Protection's Notice of Violation referenced 233 odor complaints between Sept. 1 and Jan. 20. The residents of Dunmore and Throop and surrounding communities have been experiencing and complaining about strong hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) smells for years and DEP has finally issued violations regarding these odors. The system that is now in place is that when there is a malodor occurrence, a resident calls the DEP and they send a representative to confirm the odor. This is very reactive. I would like to see a more proactive approach put into place. The state should fund the placement and monitoring of detectors that would be able to give real-time feedback of odor occurrences, and be able to determine the source of those odors."

Beth McDonald Zangardi

BETH McDONALD ZANGARDI

Party: Democratic

Age: 59

Family: Husband, Anthony

Education: Associate degree, paralegal studies, Luzerne County Community College, 2010

Experience: Administrative clerk, Lackawanna County district attorney’s office, 2001-11; customer service representative, County of Lackawanna Transit System, 2011 to present; member, Dunmore Planning Commission, 2009-19

Campaign website: N/A

What is the most important issue facing Dunmore and what will you do about it?

"While the Keystone Landfill expansion is a major problem for Dunmore and is huge problem to rectify, Dunmore cannot solve this problem alone. We need our PA government legislators to step in and help us. Dunmore is a small town. We don't have the financial resources to fight the landfill and unfortunately, we don't receive enough fees from the landfill. That being said, Dunmore has financial problems, many roads to be paved, too much blight and a community in need of progressive growth. All these issues are important to our Dunmore community."

Should Dunmore heed Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendation to consider becoming home rule to lift some taxing caps, like earned income tax?

"Regarding the PA Economy League recommendation to become Home Rule Charter, at this time I would not be in favor of it. This current council has quite a few plans in the works for Dunmore. I believe these plans would help Dunmore become a better, brighter community. I won't rule it out in the future, not at this time. In the future, if it is the best path for Dunmore, then I am for it. As a side note, the PA Economy League made quite a few recommendations that leaves many options for Dunmore's future."

Do you agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill that it was not the source of most odor complaints that prompted the state to cite the landfill earlier this year?

"No, I do not agree with that claim. Of course the landfill is the source of the odors."

Michael Hayes

MICHAEL HAYES

Party: Democratic

Age: 43

Family: Wife, Virginia Capo Hayes; daughter, Bella

Education: North Pocono High School, 1997; bachelor's degree, political science, Pennsylvania State University, 2002

Experience: Co-owner, Nardozzi's Pizza; borough councilman, 2012-13 and 2018-19; Dunmore Zoning Board, six years

Campaign website: N/A

What is the most important issue facing Dunmore and what will you do about it?

"We have rising costs and we cannot continue to tax our residents into poverty. We need to utilize the 230 acres of Dunmore land in Dickson City as a renewable energy park that is funded by the federal and state grant programs and feeds energy into the power grid, generating revenue for the borough, and relieves the tax burden of our community. We also need a professional grant writer paid based on the money brought into the borough, and all Dunmore elected government officials should donate their salaries back to the borough until we balance our budget. With seven on council, controller, mayor, tax collector, that's roughly $40,000 per year and that's a good start."

Should Dunmore heed Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendation to consider becoming home rule to lift some taxing caps, like earned income tax?

"PEL made some recommendations that are just horrible. They recommend we eliminate the garbage and recycling and outsource it. I will never be for any plan that involves that. Making our residents pay per garbage bag every week is a slap in the face to everyone in this community and I won't let that happen on my watch. And no, most of our residents are hard-working people living paycheck to paycheck, we can not increase the taxes anymore."

Do you agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill that it was not the source of most odor complaints that prompted the state to cite the landfill earlier this year?

"It would be a great idea to work with all the potential sources of the odor to mitigate it. Let's get KSL, the wastewater treatment plant and the solid waste transfer station to aggressively plant odor-eliminating vegetation that reduces and eliminates orders, like gardenia, peace lily and Italian jasmine. Let's also clean up the garbage juice that drips from the daily garbage trucks and runs down our streets and into our yards. We should have a cleaning truck following the garbage truck to eliminate that issue in town as well."

Janet Brier

JANET BRIER

Party: Democratic

Age: 69

Family: Husband, Tim Brier; three children; five grandchildren

Education: Graduate, Dunmore Central Catholic High School; bachelor's degree, Marywood College; Master of Public Health, Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University; PA Licensed Certified Public Accountant

Experience: Dunmore council member, 2020-present

Campaign website: facebook.com/JanetBrierForDunmoreCouncil

What is the most important issue facing Dunmore and what will you do about it?

"The most important issue facing Dunmore is the health and welfare of future generations of Dunmoreans. To that end, I will bring fiscal responsibility to revenue capture and sensible expenditures and work with state and federal officials, businesses, the chamber and citizens to promote sustainable economic growth. Most importantly, I will work to curtail further environmental exploitation of our beautiful little town."

Should Dunmore heed Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendation to consider becoming home rule to lift some taxing caps, like earned income tax?

"Our borough manager is taking the lead to implement PEL's recommendations with the advice and consent of the mayor and borough council. The borough was not compelled to hire PEL. We felt the need to obtain municipal expertise to assess what had taken place in the past and have a viable plan for the future. We wanted to be proactive instead of reactive. We actually submitted a STMP grant application with the state to secure money to help to pay for the study. The borough was $18 million in debt when I took office and that was the most compelling reason to seek PEL's expertise."

Do you agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill that it was not the source of most odor complaints that prompted the state to cite the landfill earlier this year?

"No, not for one second."

Michael A. Dempsey

MICHAEL A. DEMPSEY

Party: Democratic

Age: 42

Family: Wife, Caressa; sons, Michael Jr. and Luke

Education: Bachelor’s degree, political science, University of Pittsburgh, 2004; Juris Doctorate, Widener University School of Law, 2010

Experience: Trial attorney, Lenahan and Dempsey PC, 2010 to present; auditor, state auditor general’s office, 2005-2007; Dunmore council, 2014 to present

Campaign website: N/A

What is the most important issue facing Dunmore and what will you do about it?

"The most important issue facing Dunmore is our financial health. We are currently at the maximum tax rate under Borough Code. As such, we need to maximize our grants and state funding, while also looking for other additional revenue streams. We have already taken numerous proactive steps to secure our future financial health such as refinancing our debt to a 1.7% fixed rate, received over $500,000 in grants, contracted PEL to analyze our current and future financial condition and engaged experts on our pension and health plans. We should also explore hiring an experienced financial consultant to guide us through our finances. We want to be able to take some of the burden off the local taxpayers while maintaining all of our public services. In addition to the above, we need to continue to review and scrutinize all of our service contracts to make sure we are getting the lowest possible rates in all areas. Also, we own a very valuable piece of commercial land in Dickson City of which we should begin to explore our options of usage."

Should Dunmore heed Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendation to consider becoming home rule to lift some taxing caps, like earned income tax?

"It never hurts to explore different options that are available to us as a borough and weigh the pros and cons of such an endeavor. However, I believe if we continue what I discussed above and scrutinize every dollar we spend, I am confident that Home Rule will not be necessary."

Do you agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill that it was not the source of most odor complaints that prompted the state to cite the landfill earlier this year?

"I disagree with KSL that it was not the source of the odor complaints. We have received hundreds of odor complaints over the years and especially this past year. Finally, the DEP issued proper citations and I am hopeful that KSL will rectify this ongoing issue."

Patrick "Nibs" Loughney

PATRICK 'NIBS' LOUGHNEY

Party: Democratic

Age: 63

Family: Wife, Donna; children, Mark, Sean, Patrick and Colleen; grandchildren, Rain, Kai, Quinn, Margot and Esther

Education: Dunmore High School, 1978

Experience: Retired; former borough mayor, 24 years; former councilman, six years

Campaign website: N/A

What is the most important issue facing Dunmore and what will you do about it?

"The most important issue is our financial situation. I have a couple things that I am planning on bringing up when I am elected. One would be the uncollected garbage fees from years past and some other delinquent taxes, business taxes, that were not collected in prior years."

Should Dunmore heed Pennsylvania Economy League's recommendation to consider becoming home rule to lift some taxing caps, like earned income tax?

"No. Flat-out no. PEL is just a recommending body. It's a for-profit organization. It's not a governmental agency. And they just recommend. Council has the final say."

Editor's note: PEL is a nonprofit organization.

Do you agree with Keystone Sanitary Landfill that it was not the source of most odor complaints that prompted the state to cite the landfill earlier this year?

"No, I don't agree with Keystone that it was not (the source of most odor complaints). I agree that it was contributing to the odors."


KSL claims NEPA residents are submitting false odor reports.

No, this is not a belated April Fool’s Day joke. Although, it is laughable.

Keystone Sanitary Landfill (KSL) recently filed their response to the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Notice of Violations stemming from more than 230 phone calls reporting foul odors in our community.

They claim,

““…the vast majority of the odor complaints were the result of a few individuals, fueled by Friends of Lackawanna’s encouragement…” ”
— Al Magnotta

Moreover, the landfill cites a “personal vendetta” and “blatant fear mongering” by FOL throughout the years saying we agitate members and the community to file complaints that are “baseless” and “falsely reported.”

As if those statements were not inflammatory enough, they continue:

“It is grossly irresponsible for FOL and its members to terrorize the community by asserting, without basis, that regional air quality threatens the health and well being of citizens of Dunmore and surrounding communities. It is particularly irresponsible for FOL to scare Keystone’s friends and neighbors into believing that the landfill is causing nonexistent threats to their well being.” ”
— Dan O'Brien, KSL Business Manager

We, of course, find this all laughable. As our own Pat Clark retorts,

That’s insane. There are enough real odors. We don’t have to worry about fake odors.

It’s almost like the landfill thinks we can put the bat signal up, and people just reply to it and say, ‘Oh, call in the false odors now.’ In reality, it smells like rotting garbage, and people know what it is, and for years and years and years, no one knew where to call.

We’re not terrorizing the community at all. We’re sticking up for citizens of NEPA, which has been going on for 30 years, and giving them means to fight back and report things that negatively impact their day to day life.

The DEP is reviewing KSL’s response and once complete will make the determination whether the mitigation efforts being implemented by KSL are effective at reducing odors.

Curious how they’ll make that determination since KSL claims there are no “real” odors.

Read more from the Scranton Times’ reporting.

An official State Smell??

We believe there is time to stop this from being permanent. But if this landfill's growth (and decay) continues unabated, we fear this editorial in the 2/22/23 Scranton Times may prove generational.

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"There are variations by region. Here in Northeast Pennsylvania, especially Lackawanna County, the official aroma undoubtedly is the stench from the Keystone Landfill in Dunmore and Throop. Millions of tons of decaying out-of-state garbage in the massive and growing landfill generate a distinctly sweet stench that can’t be contained, even though the state Department of Environmental Resources only recently acknowledged its existence. That adds the nauseating smell of regulatory failure to the mix."

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State's official aroma more of a stench

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Feb 22, 2023

A pending bill in the New Mexico Legislature would make the Land of Enchantment the first state to declare an official state aroma — green chiles, specifically as they are roasted outdoors in the fall.

No such bill is on the legislative agenda in Pennsylvania, but there would be some obvious candidates for the honor. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently conducted an informal poll of its readers, in which soft pretzels, with 27.9% of the vote, edged out Hershey’s chocolate, 27.7%; Wawa coffee, 21%; and cow manure, 23.4%.

All of those are indeed distinctive. But somehow, they don’t get to the heart or the nose of Pennsylvania life.

There are variations by region. Here in Northeast Pennsylvania, especially Lackawanna County, the official aroma undoubtedly is the stench from the Keystone Landfill in Dunmore and Throop. Millions of tons of decaying out-of-state garbage in the massive and growing landfill generate a distinctly sweet stench that can’t be contained, even though the state Department of Environmental Resources only recently acknowledged its existence. That adds the nauseating smell of regulatory failure to the mix.

For a statewide official aroma, however, public corruption is the hands-down winner. Over the past two decades, the stench has arisen from every corner of the commonwealth.

The haul for state and federal investigators is impressive. It includes two speakers of the state House and other high-ranking legislators, lower-level lawmakers, the Senate minority leader from Lackawanna County, a state Supreme Court justice, two state treasurers, a state attorney general, two Luzerne County judges, county commissioners of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, the mayors of Scranton, Reading and Allentown; and many lesser lights. Two other Supreme Court justices resigned amid scandal.

In the commonwealth, “leaders” regularly add to the odor. Most recently, former Old Forge Council President Robert Semenza pleaded guilty to accepting bribes regarding a zoning matter and was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. The bribery middleman, James J. Peperno, was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced recently to six years in prison.

One day, perhaps, Pennsylvanians other than prosecutors will bask in the sweet smell of success.

Optimism aired on landfill limits by Richard Yost

As Richard Yost's letter to the editor concludes, "We don’t want to be the dumping ground of the East Coast."

Full letter below titled "Optimism aired on landfill limits"

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Editor: If environmental degradation may not be so noticeable, a growing stench certainly can be.

It is a most serious matter because it isn’t going to get any better — not with an almost 40-year proposed expansion at Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore and Throop.

Although some admire landfill owner Louis DeNaples as the ultimate “rags to riches” success story, the landfill takes a toll on Northeast Pennsylvania in terms of the quality of its air, soil and water. People increasingly recognize this as a lower quality of life even as it affects property values. It is the bottom line of a business philosophy that prizes profit over people.

Help may be on the way. Newly elected Gov. Josh Shapiro was an effective prosecutor as the two-term state attorney general. His background equips him to direct the Department of Environmental Protection to actually protect the environment.

The DEP clamors for funding and Shapiro may want the agency to prove its worth. At the same time he seems to be in sympathy with the Trash Reduction and Sensible Handling Act, legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, of Moosic. The bill would give states more control over the garbage imported by landfills in their jurisdictions.

Both members of Congress have made the point that much of the garbage in the landfill –— up to two-thirds of it — comes from New Jersey and New York.

We don’t want to be the dumping ground of the East Coast.

Shapiro Must fund DEP by Representative Greg Vitali

A great guest column by Rep. Greg Vitali

"Shapiro must take a leadership role if DEP is to carry out its mission to protect public health and the environment. Proposing a budget on March 7 that significantly increases the department’s funding and staffing would be a good first step."

Lack of funding is no excuse for allowing massive landfill expansions. But it could help in the oversight of the public health.

Even DEP seems to agree when it stated: “… to effectively administer increased oversight … DEP will require additional resources … particularly more field inspectors and enforcement personnel…”

http://times-tribune.com/.../article_aeba9be8-064c-5193...

Dump odor smelling salts for state DEP [ Scranton Times Editorial Board]

Dump odor smelling salts for state DEP

Now that the state Department of Environmental Resources has cleared its sinuses, perhaps it will open its eyes.

The regulator, which long had been impervious to noxious odors emanating from the massive and growing Keystone Sanitary Landfill, recently cited the landfill nine times for odor violations in response to 230 complaints.

Tellingly, not all of those complainants live near the landfill. The complaints came not only from Dunmore and Throop, the two boroughs that host the landfill, but from Scranton, south of the landfill; Archbald and Olyphant, north of the landfill; and Elmhurst, Jefferson and Roaring Brook townships, to the landfill’s east and southeast.

Over the past several years, the DEP has fielded hundreds of such complaints but infamously has failed to detect the noxious odors, while concluding the landfill and its planned massive expansion would not have a negative effect on public health or property values.

Ideally, the citations indicate not only that the DEP has regained its olfactory senses, but that the agency has begun to take a more realistic look at the landfill’s adverse impact on the region.

The DEP irresponsibly has approved the landfill’s massive, 40-year-plus expansion plan, under which it would add more than 90 million tons of mostly out-of-state garbage to the millions of tons that already create the smell that the DEP finally has managed to detect.

If the landfill stinks now, what will it smell like 90 million tons of garbage from now?

And this is not the case of the landfill having a bad day or a bad week. The complaints that led to the citation were filed from Sept. 1 through Jan. 20.

Most of that period also predates the recent change in the state administration. But Gov. Josh Shapiro, during his gubernatorial campaign and during his six years as attorney general, was critical of the DEP’s performance in several areas.

There is no reason to believe the agency rose above that performance when it approved the landfill expansion, which local civic and environmental advocates have appealed to the Environmental Hearing Board.

Shapiro should order the DEP to review that unwarranted approval, taking the odor citations as a whiff of long-term inevitably if the expansion proceeds, rather than a one-time regulatory violation.

Notice of Violations [FINALLY] Issued to KSL

“KSL FAILED.....”
— Rachel Miller Compliance Specialist Waste Management Program

Below is a Notice of Violation (NOV) that NERO Waste Management sent to Keystone Landfill this week for the odor complaints the DEP has received since mid-September. They were over 230 complaints received.  The department lists each violations discovered and requests info from Keystone on how it intends to remediate the issues. 

"...Dunmore, a town bordering Scranton known for its enormous landfill."

This is how the one of the largest media entities in the world (NYT) characterizes Dunmore.

It's brutal. And it probably makes most NEPA folks wince. And get defensive. But sadly, there's more truth to it then we want to acknowledge.

We don't want this to be the descriptor forever. And it's one of the many reasons we keep fighting.

(Image from an article in today's New York Times)

Finally - KSL Notice of Nuisance Odors

Finally.

After years of NEPA residents calling in complaints, the DEP now believes that the odor of rotten garbage that regularly permeates our area actually did originate from the nearby 750-acre site designed specifically to hold rotting garbage.

We've attached the letter DEP sent to KSL last week.

Quality of life matters. Health matters. Our future matters.

Thank you, again, to all of our Friends for sticking with us, and staying on this issue, for so long.

Wolf Should Heed Request on Landfill - Scranton Times Editorial

This is an excellent Editorial in the Scranton Times. It highlights so many of the issues Friends of Lackawanna has been promoting for the past 8 years. Please read it below.

Key takeaways:

--> The never ending burden this dump puts on the citizens of NEPA

--> How these burdens will only get worse as it grows

--> The value of clean waterways

--> DEP's rubber stamping treatment when it comes to this landfill

--> The importance of municipal cooperation

--> The impact of this expansion not just on Dunmore and Throop but of the entire region.

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Wolf should heed request on landfillnion/wolf-should-heed-request-on-landfill/article_b9553c65-4f86-55b6-a2c3-b2cec6e31837.html?fbclid=IwAR1gdVsoAVSdC4GNGeGGQ6GamJQVAgW3BHESvK106JEmHd0SJ43oQxRerMg

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Allowing another 94 million tons of mostly imported garbage to be dumped at the Keystone Sanitary Landfill over the next 38 years obviously ill serves the environmental and health interests of Northeast Pennsylvania.

But that has not stopped the state Department of Environmental Protection from approving the vast landfill expansion. So there is no reason to believe that the DEP will be any more skeptical about the landfill’s ancillary plan to dump 200,000 gallons a day of treated landfill effluent, known as leachate, into Little Roaring Brook in Dunmore.

The stream is a tributary of the Lackawanna River, which is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, which is the largest source of freshwater flowing into Chesapeake Bay. Pennsylvania has committed billions of dollars to reducing pollution in the Susquehanna watershed as to vastly improve the bay’s health. The federal government has ordered costly upgrades to sewer systems throughout the watershed in the same cause.

Yet the DEP might allow the landfill to dump the treated leachate — water that percolates from the landfill — into the stream rather than requiring further treatment at the sewer plant serving Scranton and Dunmore.

On several scores, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and city council, and Dunmore Mayor Max Conway and borough council, deserve credit for jointly asking Gov. Tom Wolf to ensure the quality of the state’s review.

One issue is the project itself. Another is the DEP’s performance. In a letter to Wolf, they noted the burden that the DEP has ensured for the region by approving the unwarranted landfill expansion and stated flatly that “the department has a record of granting the landfill exactly what it requests.”

The best feature of the joint effort is that it runs counter to the parochial, fragmented local governance that plays a major role in allowing polluters to employ a divide-and-conquer strategy.

By acting jointly, the Scranton and Dunmore officials make a more emphatic case about the landfill’s regional impact, which is far greater than the DEP’s mere technical review suggests.

Wolf should get that message and ensure that the public interest is included in the agency’s latest review. Other local officials should get the message that communities regionwide must act in concert on common quality of life issues.

Concerns about landfill plans to send treated water into watershed - Newswatch 16

Here's a recent story on WNEP-TV on the Landfill's proposal to send up to 200,000 gallons of leachate a day into our rivers.

As Bernie McGurl, executive director of the Lackawanna River Conservation Association, notes, "This watershed, Lackawanna County, has borne an undue burden for municipal waste for the entire northeast Middle Atlantic region. And what do we get for now? Just more burden, more burden? Where's the benefit? I don't see any benefit to it."

You can watch the entire story at:https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/concerns-about-landfill-plans-to-send-treated-water-into-watershed-keystone-landfill-leachate-wastewater-wateshed-lackawanna-river-roaring-brook/523-03da4bd8-8765-4552-ab2a-67fe6d92953e?fbclid=IwAR1VlICsenXPsEdSQ6ZfIEUHfvGZZBxuWjtTF-AzXoOV7pfJ_rJ6DroxFSA

Scranton, Dunmore officials ask governor review of landfill proposal

Thank you Mayor Cognetti (Mayor of Scranton), Mayor Conway (Mayor Max Conway), Scranton Council and Dunmore Council for voicing your concerns with the Landfill's recent request to dump up to 200,000 gallons of leachate into our waterways.

This is a much needed example of local municipalities working together to represent, and protect, their impacted citizens. And in this case, it will only get worse unless something is done.

“This is just indicative of the broader issue, which is if you allow a landfill to grow this size, the problems and the outputs that it produces grow with it... The bigger these decisions become, the more volume that’s increased, the bigger the risks are, and that’s what we’ve been shouting from the mountaintops for years.” - Pat Clark of Friends of Lacakwanna.

Perhaps as this garbage mountain grows grows taller, Governor Tom Wolf will finally be able to hear us.

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Scranton, Dunmore officials ask governor review of landfill proposal

BY FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY STAFF WRITER

Leaders of Scranton and Dunmore want Gov. Tom Wolf’s scrutiny as the state Department of Environmental Protection considers a request from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill to discharge treated leachate into a Lackawanna River tributary.

In a letter dated Tuesday and signed by Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, Dunmore Mayor Max Conway and every member of both Scranton city and Dunmore borough councils, officials urge Wolf to carefully review an application by the Louis and Dominick DeNaples-owned landfill in Dunmore and Throop. The letter also asks for clarity on aspects of the proposal and notes previous leachate issues at the landfill.

The landfill submitted a major permit modification application Feb. 18 seeking approval to treat leachate to a higher degree on site and discharge up to 200,000 gallons per day into Little Roaring Brook just off of East Drinker Street — enough to fill two Olympic-sized pools in just under a week. The landfill currently pretreats its leachate and pipes it to Pennsylvania American Water’s Scranton wastewater treatment plant.

The landfill initially sought to discharge treated leachate into Eddy Creek and Little Roaring Brook in December 2019 but removed Eddy Creek. Leachate is liquid that percolates through garbage piles.

The DEP is reviewing the landfill’s application, and last month the department sought input from Dunmore and Throop boroughs.

The discussions come 15 months after the DEP approved the landfill’s Phase III expansion, which gave it the capacity to add 188 billion pounds of additional garbage through 2060, tripling its total volume of waste.

“This is the latest example of the continuous burden this landfill puts on both of our municipalities and our area,” according to the joint letter. “These burdens will only grow, in both severity and frequency, due to the 2021 approval of the landfill’s Phase III expansion by the Department of Environmental Protection.”

The letter also takes aim at the DEP, asserting, “The department has a record of granting the landfill exactly what it requests.”

“With the department acting as both the decision maker for each request and the down-stream enforcer of compliance, we are fearful that this could lead to a circular process that harms our health, our environment and our economy,” the Scranton and Dunmore officials wrote.

The DEP declined to comment on the letter, spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said in an email.

“The department has not been provided a copy of the letter directly from the authors to review, and (a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit application from Keystone Landfill is still under review by the department,” she wrote.

The landfill would use the best available technology for the process, landfill consultant Al Magnotta said, adding it is the same technology used to make drinking water from seawater.

“The entire application is on file, and I doubt seriously if anybody in this particular group has had the opportunity or has looked at them,” Magnotta said. “I think a lot of their concerns might be alleviated.”

Magnotta anticipates addressing concerns during a public meeting in the future on the proposal. He said the stream discharge is designed around “extremely, extremely stiff” limits.

In Dunmore, Conway said he maintains a good relationship with Cognetti, and the two have discussed how to collaborate.

“With the landfill in particular, Dunmore doesn’t seem to have any luck going at it alone, so if we have Scranton partners — and our neighbors are strong partners — it makes total sense to work with them if they share our beliefs,” Conway said. “It’s not like the air stops at the Dunmore-Scranton line or the water doesn’t run from Little Roaring Brook into Roaring Brook and then into the Lackawanna (River).”

By penning the joint letter, officials wanted to request that the governor has his administration take a careful look at the application and analyze it, Cognetti said. Dunmore and Scranton have a responsibility to their residents, families and children to continue moving forward with environmental protection and not take any steps back, she said.

“We are asking the governor and his administration to really take a hard look at this and make sure that the decision that comes out is well researched, well documented and something that is safe for our communities,” Cognetti said.

Scranton Council President Kyle Donahue said the letter was to express their concerns on a local, joint level.

“It’s not just about municipal borders. It’s about this region overall,” Donahue said. “We’re protecting our environment.”

Pat Clark, a leader of Friends of Lackawanna, lauded the collaboration and support from elected officials. Friends of Lackawanna is a grassroots group formed in 2014 in opposition to the landfill and its expansion.

“This is just indicative of the broader issue, which is if you allow a landfill to grow this size, the problems and the outputs that it produces grow with it,” Clark said. “The bigger these decisions become, the more volume that’s increased, the bigger the risks are, and that’s what we’ve been shouting from the mountaintops for years.”

Connecticut to send garbage to us... I mean KSL

Connecticut is shutting down its trash-to-energy plant. Anyone care to guess where that trash is going to end up? Yes, right in our backyard. Of course.

This is exactly the chain of events that will keep happening if Pennsylvania's trash-first / communities-second policy is in place.

How it started...

2015: FOL makes the arguments that as long as the state keeps expanding landfills, there is no impetus for anyone to change. And as long as there is no impetus to change, everyone, including other states, do not need to consider alternatives and will keep shipping trash here.

How it's going...

2022: Connecticut shuts down their in-state trash process.

Connecticut seeks proposals to send their waste out of state.

Connecticut chooses the Keystone Sanitary Landfill to send the trash to.

This is not going to end. And NEPA, by virtue of the state's unfettered landfill expansions, will cement our future as the dumping ground for everyone. It's already happening, right in front of our eyes.

Sources:

FOL OpEd from 2015:

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_4cb1932b...

Article on Connecticut shutting down its existing trash process

https://ctmirror.org/.../with-trash-plant-closing-ct.../

Connecticut's Authority looking to out of state landfills

https://www.ctmira.org/.../01/2022-01-19-Board-Package-1.pdf

Send Dump's Water to Sewer Plant, Editorial

This is The Scranton Times-Tribune editorial about KSL's request to send up to *200,000 gallons of leachate per day* directly into our waterways.

The editorial draws a natural, logical conclusion given how DEP has interacted with the Landfill over the past few decades: "... the DEP (should) require Keystone continue to send its leachate through the sewer system operated by a separate entity, which also would ensure a set of eyes on the process other than those of state regulators who too often have served the landfill’s interests rather than the public’s."

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Send dump's water to sewer plant

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Aug 5, 2022

The state agency that can’t detect odors wafting from the massive Keystone Sanitary Landfill, and which has signed off on its gargantuan expansion, has set a low bar for protecting the public’s interest in a clean environment — even though that is a constitutional right in Pennsylvania.

Now, the landfill wants the Department of Environmental Protection to allow it to dump up to 200,000 gallons of landfill wastewater, every day, into Little Roaring Brook — therefore, downstream into Roaring Brook, the Lackawanna River, the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The effluent, known as leachate, would be treated at the landfill before discharge, using a state-of-the-art process called reverse osmosis.

But the landfill’s plan is rooted in its own economic interest rather than environmental quality. Leachate that the landfill produces now is pretreated at the landfill and then discharged into the Pennsylvania American Water sewer system to be treated a second time before its discharge into the Lackawanna River — treatment for which the landfill must pay.

In a decision that egregiously contradicts the public interest, the DEP in 2021 approved Keystone’s expansion. That will allow another 94 million tons of mostly out-of-state garbage to be dumped at Keystone through 2060.

Even that won’t be the end of Keystone’s massive environmental impact. It is the gift to Northeast Pennsylvania that keeps on giving. Those millions of tons of deteriorating garbage will continue to produce gas, which the landfill collects for use as fuel to produce electricity. And the landfill will generate billions of gallons of wastewater far into the future. Allowing Keystone to dump that water into Little Roaring Brook to avoid sewer fees will save the landfill millions of dollars over time.

The DEP has asked landfill host communities Dunmore and Throop for recommendations. Both borough councils should not just recommend, but demand, that the DEP require Keystone continue to send its leachate through the sewer system operated by a separate entity, which also would ensure a set of eyes on the process other than those of state regulators who too often have served the landfill’s interests rather than the public’s.

Letter to Editor: Gary Duncan (Dunmore)

A recent letter to the editor in the The Scranton Times-Tribune by Gary Duncan reinforces the questions that logically arise around the landfill's request to send up to 200,000 gallons of leachate a day into our waters: What's the technology? will the public be informed? Will the public have a chance to ask questions? Why so much? What are the potential downstream impacts?

Thanks for voicing these questions, Gary.

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Editor: Regarding the Aug. 5 Times-Tribune editorial on Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s request to dump up to 200,000 gallons daily of wastewater into the Little Roaring Brook (“Send dump’s water to sewer plant”), the proposal may be the most preposterous request ever made by a corporate entity.

As so aptly pointed out in the editorial, Roaring Brook flows into the Lackawanna River before entering the Susquehanna River. That flows into Chesapeake Bay and ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean. The potential amount of leachate that would be dumped equates to an almost unfathomable 73 million gallons of potential contaminants annually.

Part of the Lackawanna River has been designated by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission as a Class A wild trout stream. In 2018 it was listed in Trout Unlimited’s 100 best trout streams and in 2020, it was named Pennsylvania River of the Year.

I request all our local elected officials, members of Dunmore Borough Council and the mayor, along with our three county commissioners — one of whom is from Dunmore — along with state Sen. Marty Flynn, a resident of Dunmore; 112th District state Rep. Kyle Mullins, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, to contact the state Department of Environmental Protection.

They should demand that until the public has a clear understanding of “reverse osmosis” and a public hearing is held, that no approval of a leachate dump of 200,000 gallons per day from the landfill should be considered.

If our elected officials cannot do that for their constituents, how can they possibly ask us to vote for them in November?

GARY DUNCAN

DUNMORE

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/.../article_c4f203e3...

Throop, Dunmore officials asked for input on landfill's creek discharge proposal

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.

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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.

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