CLEARFIELD – Leaders from several townships, a borough and the county came together last week to discuss a proposed landfill in Boggs Township. A handful of representatives spoke up about their concerns, but few, if any, of those questions were answered that night.
Now the Clearfield County Commissioners are making sure their piece is heard.
At Tuesday morning’s meeting, Commissioner Chairman Rex Read said he was approached by Robert Rovner, one of the people involved with Feasterville-based PA Waste LLC following Thursday’s Local Municipal Involvement Process. Read said Rovner “waved tens of millions of dollars to benefit the county” in his face.
“If the only thing you have to put in front of us in terms of benefits is money, what is the real benefit?” Read asked.
During the presentation made by PA Waste’s engineer, such benefits for the county were not spelled out.
“If they feel they can wave that type of money at the county, step back and consider, how much money does that mean will be going into their pockets?” Read asked.
Commissioner Mark McCracken said something that is being overlooked in the process is the potential financial impact on other municipalities such as Lawrence Township and Clearfield Borough, both of which have their own police departments.
“There will be added police and emergency services costs,” McCracken said Tuesday.
McCracken said that if PA Waste is granted permission to build in Boggs Township, it would be the company’s first such facility, and that makes him question whether the company will keep the license or will sell it off.
Another landfill has been proposed for nearby Rush Township, Centre County, and a permit was voided for a proposed Chest Township facility in August because no waste was disposed of on the site.
But, McCracken said he wants the Department of Environmental Protection to consider the applications as a whole.
“I feel it is important that DEP first make a decision on whether any of these landfills are needed,” McCracken explained.
At the LMIP, Clearfield County Solicitor Kim Kesner said that Pennsylvania is in a waste disposal crisis, meaning that the state does not need more places to dispose of waste. This fact, Kesner said, was even quashing recycling efforts in the commonwealth.
“Our recycling programs are being gutted because of excess capacity,” he said, noting that it is less expensive to throw trash away rather than to recycle it.
“It’s not a matter of ‘Not In My Backyard.’ It’s a matter of we took care of our bsiness in Pennsylvania. Why should we take care of others?” Kesner noted.
During last week’s LMIP, PA Waste’s engineer noted that the proposed site was in a rural area that did not contain many homes. This was something upon which Kesner touched at the Tuesday meeting.
“He stood there and declared the offensive to us, not knowing it was offensive.”
Kesner said that the rural heritage of Clearfield County is something that many hold dear, and something the state believes in as evidenced by the PA Wilds initiative.
“I would hope that the people would understand that the context is bigger than not wanting a landfill,” Kesner said.
Commissioner Mike Lytle said he was afraid things would stay the same until laws are changed.
Current statutes do not allow the county to take an active role, only allowing officials to comment.
“We shouldn’t be defending (ourselves against) these things,” he said.
