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| A graphic rendering of the proposed Elcon chemical waste treatment facility in Falls Twp., Bucks County, Pa. |
Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times:
A controversial plan to build a hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls has been resubmitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, about five months after the agency partially rejected an earlier version.
The plant, proposed by Elcon Recycling Services LLC, would treat between 150,000 and 210,000 tons of chemical and pharmaceutical wastewater each year, according to the company’s past proposal materials. The materials would be brought by truck to the 70,000-square-foot plant, proposed for a 23-acre property in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex.
Elcon says the plant would use a technologically advanced thermal oxidation process that would limit toxic releases from the facility. Opponents are skeptical, calling the facility an incinerator and raising concerns over air pollution. In addition, they worry the plant could become inundated by floodwaters due to its proximity to the Delaware River.
Elcon’s regulatory road has been a bumpy one. It’s Phase I application, which deals with the site selection, was rejected in early 2015 because the DEP said it didn’t contain enough information about flood risk. Elcon reworked the application, and passed the Phase I hurdle on a second try in November 2015.
However, the company’s Phase II application — a much more rigorous regulatory process that addresses numerous aspects of the proposal — was rejected by the DEP in May 2017 after Elcon submitted it in March. The DEP said in a news release Monday that the company has now submitted additional materials meant to rectify the deficiencies DEP cited in May.
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