The DEP issued a draft decision Wednesday to reject a controversial application to build a hazardous waste treatment facility near the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.
Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Doylestown Intelligencer
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday rejected a proposal to build a hazardous waste treatment center located across the Delaware River from Burlington County.
The decision appears to be a significant setback for Elcon Recycling Services LLC, which has been working for years to try and win approval for the controversial facility. According to the company, the facility would process between 150,000 and 210,000 tons of chemical and pharmaceutical waste each year, on a 23-acre plot of land in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, formerly the footprint of U.S. Steel.
“After a rigorous review of the application, supplemental materials submitted by the company, and input from the public, DEP will not approve this application in its current form,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a prepared statement. “Unless the company can address these outstanding deficiencies, DEP will have no choice but to move forward with a full application denial.”
As alluded to by McDonnell, the decision is not a final blow. Virginia Cain, regional spokeswoman for the DEP, said the notice was only a “draft” decision that noted 18 deficiencies in Elcon’s application to treat hazardous waste. There will be a 45-day comment period from June 1 to July 15, at which time Elcon could potentially submit materials to correct the deficiencies.
“If Elcon doesn’t satisfy that, then we would move forward with the denial,” Cain said, adding that DEP could also choose to accept the changes and put forth a draft permit.
A DEP statement accompanying the draft denial lays out the deficiencies. Among the issues are Elcon’s final plans having a large footprint than was laid out in an initial site review, omissions of pertinent documents in its application, the proposed pathways for vehicles to navigate the property, and concerns over environmental monitoring.
Detailing one deficiency, the DEP said it wanted Elcon to conduct quarterly groundwater sampling, as opposed to Elcon’s proposal it only conduct such sampling in the event of a spill. Such monitoring would “provide the best assurance of the earliest detection of any releases from hazardous waste management units,” the DEP wrote.
The DEP also wants assurances that Elcon has identified appropriate hazardous waste landfills to dispose of solids left over after treatment, clarification on whether or not it would accept PCB-contaminated wastes, and a correction that estimates show the facility will hire 55 employees, not 120. DEP said Elcon estimated the higher number based on a theoretical future expansion.
Fred Stine, citizen action coordinator for the Bristol Borough-based nonprofit Delaware Riverkeeper Network, cheered the decision.
“The sun is out, both literally and figuratively,” Stine said. “I think it’s another nail in the coffin … but it’s not the final denial.
