Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier-Times
Elcon Recycling Services has filed an appeal with the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas after Falls supervisors voted to reject its application on April 30.
A company seeking to build a hazardous waste treatment facility on former U.S. Steel land in Falls has filed an appeal in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, after the township’s supervisors voted April 30 to reject a land development application. The appeal, filed June 13, is a sign that the project’s applicant, Elcon Recycling Services, intends to continue fighting for the controversial facility despite recent setbacks.
Since 2014, Elcon has sought to build a plant capable of treating between 150,000 to 210,000 tons of chemical and pharmaceutical waste annually, located on a 23-acre plot in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex in lower Falls. But the effort has suffered multiple recent blows, as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on May 15 released a draft “intention to deny” the application following a 10-month review process.
The DEP decision is currently in a public comment period that runs through July 15, through which Elcon could potentially submit alterations to its application and still win approval. But county court is the venue of recourse for Elcon on Falls’ decision. Joel Bolstein, an attorney with Fox Rothschild representing Elcon, said in a statement the company believes township officials acted in “bad faith.”
“The appeal speaks for itself. For all the reasons set forth in the appeal, Elcon strongly believes that the township acted in bad faith when it voted to deny Elcon’s preliminary land development plan,” Bolstein wrote in an email. “Elcon intends to continue its efforts to obtain all of the permits and approvals needed for its proposed facility.”
