MEADVILLE – The Department of Environmental Protection has approved the first phase of the application process by Rustick LLC to expand its municipal waste landfill in Sergeant Township, McKean County, and to construct a rail line and a related municipal waste transfer station.
The decision allows the landfill expansion permit application and the permit application for a rail line and waste transfer station to accommodate the proposed rail intake to proceed to the technical review phase, which will examine the design details of the projects.
In approving the first phase environmental assessment portion of the applications, commonly called the benefits/harms review, DEP concluded that the benefits of the projects outweigh the known and potential harms.
The landfill expansion permit application requests a 336-acre expansion with 204 acres being used as new disposal area, which would add approximately 19.5 million tons of capacity. Rustick submitted the expansion permit application on Oct. 31, 2007.
The expansion permit application also requests an increase in the average daily volume from 1,500 tons per day to 6,000 tons per day. According to the application, the landfill would limit the amount of waste arriving at the facility by trucks to 1,000 tons per day, with the remaining 5,000 tons per day arriving by rail.
On April 11, 2008, Rustick submitted a separate application for a rail line and a municipal waste transfer station to accommodate the proposed rail intake. DEP held a public meeting on the rail application on Nov. 19.
Both permit applications are available for the public to review at DEP’s Northwest Regional Office in Meadville, the Sargeant Township municipal office, and the McKean County commissioners’ office.