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| The crowd at Tuesday’s PADEP meeting on Elcon’s proposed treatment facility. (Kyle Bagenstose photo) |
**Additional story added below in related news 4:50 p.m.**
The majority of a three-hour meeting on the controversial hazardous waste treatment plant was spent with audience members asking questions of the Department of Environmental Protection officials.
Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times
As anyone who’s found themselves disappointed on the night
of a presidential election can attest, four years is a long time.
of a presidential election can attest, four years is a long time.
But it proved no obstacle for opponents of the Elcon hazardous waste treatment plant proposal in Falls, as evidenced by the hundreds who turned out to the latest official meeting on the project, held Tuesday night at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel in Falls.
The meeting, hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, closely mirrored one held at the same location in 2015 when the proposal was still in its infancy. Dozens of speakers professed their concern over potential toxic emissions from the facility, the potential for an accidental spill at the facility or area roadways, and frustration with the efficacy of state environmental regulations.
Proposed by Elcon Recycling Services, the plant would process between 150,000 to 210,000 tons of chemicals and pharmaceutical waste each year, according to the company’s past filings. The company aims to build the facility on a 23-acre site in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, an approximately 3,000-acre industrial park encompassing the former footprint of U.S. Steel’s Fairless Works operation.
Elcon representatives say its facility would be state of the art and create up to 120 short-term construction jobs and about 50 full-time operations jobs. The company has said the plant would produce little pollution and adhere to all environmental regulations. Opponents, primarily made up of local residents and backed by local environmental groups, are skeptical.
Over the past several years, the proposal has ping-ponged, as Elcon submitted proposal materials and the DEP temporarily rejected them for deficiencies. But the latest version, submitted last July, cleared an initial bar, putting DEP on track to issue an intent to approve or deny in May.
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| PADEP regional manager for waste management James Wentzel addresses the crowd. (Kyle Bagenstose photo) |
Tuesday’s meeting was billed by the DEP as not required but beneficial. The majority of its three hours was spent with audience members asking questions to be answered by 10 DEP officials spread across its waste, air and water programs.
“An application submitted to the department … is entitled to fair and thorough review, and that’s what we’re doing,” said DEP regional spokeswoman Virginia Cain.
At several points throughout the meeting, DEP officials said they were bound to follow regulations by the books, with little room for discretion. That meant they couldn’t consider the potential for spills on roadways outside the footprint of the facility, or cumulative air pollution generated by all facilities in the area.
“The department has to make a decision that we’re able to defend,” if challenged by an applicant in court, said regional air quality program manager James Rebarchak.
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